Timeline Australia 2007-Present
Return to home
2007 Jan 2, An Australian Aborigine tribe was granted joint management rights over several state and national parks under a deal that recognizes its traditional ownership of the land.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 5, Australia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia and China have ratified a nuclear agreement clearing the way for the export of uranium to feed Beijing's giant nuclear power program.
(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 9, An Australian zoo put a group of humans on display to raise awareness about primate conservation, with the proviso that they don't get up to any monkey business.
(Reuters, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 13, It was reported that thousands of birds had dropped dead over the past 3 weeks in Western Australia.
(SFC, 1/13/07, p.B8)
2007 Jan 14, Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell told national radio that Japanese whaling ships on their annual hunt in the Antarctic are banned from docking in Australia and should use restraint in looming clashes with protesters.
(AFP, 1/15/07)
2007 Jan 17, In southern Australia firefighters battled to contain a wildfire that razed a number of homes amid soaring temperatures and warnings that the worst was yet to come.
(AP, 1/17/07)
2007 Jan 25, Australia’s PM John Howard announced multibillion-dollar water reforms aimed at easing Australia's record drought.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2007 Jan 29, Australia’s Queensland state planned to introduce recycled sewage to its drinking water as a record drought threatens water supplies around the nation.
(AP, 1/29/07)
2007 Jan 30, In Australia Malcolm Turnbull took office as Minister of the Environment and Water.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Turnbull)
2007 Feb 15, The Australian government said it was negotiating with the US on a plan to build a military satellite communications facility in Perth. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said the two nations had negotiated for two years to build a number of ground-based communications systems around Australia.
(AP, 2/15/07)
2007 Feb 20, Claiming a world first for a national government, Australia’s Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said incandescent lightbulbs would be phased out by 2010 in favor of the more fuel-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
(AFP, 2/20/07)
2007 Feb 22, Police clashed with demonstrators protesting the visit of Vice President Dick Cheney hours before he arrived in Australia to thank one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.
(AP, 2/22/07)
2007 Feb 23, An Australian soldier opened fire on a group of East Timorese attacking him with steel arrows, killing one of the youths and critically wounding two.
(AP, 2/23/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Malawi Garnet Halliday (50), a senior Australian mining executive in charge of the development of a new uranium mine, died with his pilot when his chartered light aircraft crashed.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, At least two people were killed when a cyclone slammed into Australia's northwest coast, paralyzing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
(AFP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 12, Australia's Muslims announced plans to form a political party to fight what they call growing Islamophobia spawned by the so-called war on terror.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 12, In outback Australia floodwaters flowed into the world's largest ephemeral lake, triggering a once-in-a-decade explosion of bird and fish life in place of arid salt flats. The Lake Eyre basin itself covers an area bigger than France, Germany and Italy. The basin last topped its maximum five meter depth in 1974.
(Reuters, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 13, Australia and Japan signed a groundbreaking defense pact in Tokyo that the leaders of both countries stressed was not aimed at reining in China, but the road ahead for a two-way trade deal looked rougher.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 14, Cricket’s World Cup began with the 1st match between Australia and Scotland on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. The ICC Cricket World Cup was hosted by the West Indies from March 13 to April 28, 2007.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Cricket_World_Cup#Venues)
2007 Mar 14, It was reported that wild camels in drought-stricken Australia were in plague proportions, damaging the environment and property. Australia claimed the world's largest wild camel population. An estimated one million feral camels, whose numbers double every eight years, competed for food and water with native animals and livestock.
(Reuters, 3/14/07)
2007 Mar 23, Australia called on South Africa to pressure Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to quit, saying the 83-year-old leader was a disaster for his country. South Africa defended its policy on Zimbabwe as the only way to approach Mugabe's authoritarian government and said African nations might convene a summit to deal with the crisis.
(AFP, 3/23/07)(Reuters, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 26, David Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, entered a surprise guilty plea at the first session of the tribunals set up after the US Supreme Court struck down the Pentagon's previous efforts to try Guantanamo prisoners.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Mar 28, In Australia a passenger ferry plowed into a pleasure boat under Sydney's iconic Harbor Bridge, killing at least 3 people, including two professional figure skating judges.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Mar 30, A military judge at Guantanamo Bay said the prison sentence of David Hicks (31), an Australian detainee who pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism. would be limited to seven years under terms of a plea bargain. Marine Corps Judge Col. Ralph Kohlmann said all but nine months would be suspended. The deal required his silence about alleged abuse.
(AP, 3/30/07)(AP, 3/31/07)
2007 Mar 30, Leaked extracts of a UN report said Australia will suffer more droughts, fires, floods and storms due to global warming and its famous Great Barrier Reef will be devastated by 2030.
(AFP, 3/30/07)
2007 Apr 5, Australian police charged two men, including an army captain, with stealing military rocket launchers, some of which ended up in the hands of a suspected terrorist.
(AFP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 13, Australia’s PM John Howard said that people with HIV should not be allowed to migrate to Australia, and that the government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2007 Apr 17, Australian officials said that the US and Australia signed an agreement last week to exchange a few hundred refugees held at island detention camps in an effort by both governments to discourage future asylum seekers.
(Reuters, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 18, A catamaran was discovered deserted off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with the sails up, engine running and food on the table. Its crew of 3 was last seen April 15.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 28, Australia's centre-left Labor Party scrapped its 25-year ban on new uranium mines in a move miners said would encourage new investment and growth in the industry.
(AP, 4/28/07)
2007 Apr 28, In Jamaica the 7-week, 1st Cricket World Cup ended with Australia defeating Sri Lanka.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.48)
2007 Apr 30, Miles Hilton-Barber (58), A blind British adventurer, touched down in Sydney Monday to end an epic 13,500-mile flight by microlight aircraft from London. His 54-day journey was performed under the supervision of sighted co-pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 May 1, Australian police arrested two men accused of raising money for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on the pretext of collecting donations for victims of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 3, Australia signed the first in a series of contracts that will see its air force buy 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter-bombers from the US Navy.
(AP, 5/3/07)
2007 May 7, Australian gangster Carl Williams was sentenced to 35 years in jail for murdering three underworld rivals in a gangland war which lasted almost 10 years and killed 28 people.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 8, It was reported that groups of elderly Australians are setting up backyard laboratories to manufacture an illegal euthanasia drug so they can kill themselves when they have had enough of life.
(AFP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 10, EnGeneIC, an Australian biotechnology firm, said it had developed a means of delivering anti-cancer drugs directly to cancer cells, which aims to avoid the debilitating toxicity associated with chemotherapy.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 13, Australia’s PM John Howard said the Australian government has banned the country's cricket team from touring Zimbabwe in September because he does not want to support the regime of a "grubby dictator."
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 14, An Australian teenager was awarded record damages including a lifetime income after a court found that his life had been ruined by bullying at primary school. Australian authorities said they want to shoot more than 3,000 kangaroos on the fringes of Canberra, noting the animals were growing in population and eating through the grassy habitats of endangered species.
(AFP, 5/14/07)(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 20, Confessed Australian al-Qaida supporter David Hicks was transferred to a maximum security prison in his hometown after spending more than five years at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(AP, 5/20/07)
2007 May 21, Mining giant Rio Tinto and energy powerhouse BP announced plans for a $1.5 billion coal-fired power project in Australia which would capture carbon dioxide to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 23, Australian PM John Howard and his Greek counterpart Kostas Karamanlis sealed a deal which concluded a decades-long debate over pensions for one of the world's largest expatriate Greek communities.
(AFP, 5/23/07)
2007 May 29, President Bush's environmental adviser said the US rejects the EU's all-encompassing target on reduction of carbon emissions. The US and Australia ruled out a regional carbon trading scheme before the meeting officially opened in the northern city of Darwin, saying it was too early to impose uniform targets on APEC nations. APEC members already account for 60% of global energy demand and their needs are expected to almost double by 2030. Fidel Castro lambasted President Bush for opposing the EU's goal for an agreement on carbon emissions at next week's Group of Eight summit.
(AFP, 5/29/07)(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 May 31, Australia and the Philippines agreed to expand counter-terrorism cooperation, with elite Australian troops to train their Philippine counterparts in the restive south.
(AFP, 5/31/07)
2007 May, Australia’s Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal ruled that the Peel Hotel in the southern city of Melbourne could exclude patrons based on their sexuality.
(Reuters, 5/28/07)
2007 May, In Australia the Slater & Gordon law firm went public and used the proceeds to go on an acquisition spree, swallowing 6 smaller rivals within a year.
(Econ, 8/23/08, p.55)
2007 Jun 3, Australia’s PM John Howard ditched his opposition to a greenhouse gas reduction target for Australia with a pledge to set a national pollution limit next year.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 5, A passenger train and truck collided at a rail crossing in southern Australia, killing 11 people and injuring up to 50.
(AP, 6/5/07)(AP, 6/6/07)
2007 Jun 5, Tony Mokbel (42), a top Australian fugitive, was arrested in Greece. The next day he accused Australia's authorities of saddling him with a bogus murder charge to secure his extradition. Mokbel had fled overseas in 2006 while on bail for importing cocaine.
(AFP, 6/6/07)
2007 Jun 8, A wild storm lashed Australia's east coast, killing at least five people. The Pasha Bulker, massive coal ship, was pushed onto a sand bank off the port city of Newcastle, some 90 miles north of Sydney.
(AP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 12, Australian PM John Howard agreed to meet the Dalai Lama after opponents charged he was afraid of offending China, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing. The Dalai Lama warned major nations not to try to contain China's economic and military rise, and urged countries like Australia to use their trading clout to pressure Beijing on human rights.
(AP, 6/12/07)(Reuters, 6/12/07)
2007 Jun 12, In Australia outraged victims in the Hunter and Central Coast areas north of Sydney said looters raided abandoned houses, businesses and cars during four days of violent storms, stealing everything from iPods to alcohol and cigarettes.
(AP, 6/12/07)
2007 Jun 14, In Australia New Zealand PM Helen Clark met briefly with the Dalai Lama as they both toured Australia, where the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit has drawn fire from China.
(AFP, 6/14/07)
2007 Jun 15, Australian PM John Howard met the Dalai Lama triggering an angry reaction from China who accused the premier of turning a "deaf ear" to its concerns. A government report said child sex abuse is rampant among Aborigines in remote northern Australia, blaming widespread drunkenness and the breakdown of traditional societies as among the root causes.
(AP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 18, In Australia a good Samaritan who tried to rescue a woman being dragged by her hair on a busy Melbourne street was shot dead and two other people were wounded when her attacker opened fire. On June 20 a Hells Angel biker was charged with the murder after surrendering to authorities.
(AFP, 6/18/07)(AFP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 20, Australia announced that it will spend 9.3 billion US dollars on five Spanish-designed warships to boost its capacity to face military threats in the region.
(AP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 21, Australia's PM John Howard announced plans for the federal government to take control of 60 aboriginal communities in the Northern Territories. Plans also included a ban on pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in the northern areas and tightened control over their welfare benefits to fight child sex abuse among them.
(AP, 6/21/07)(Econ, 6/30/07, p.50)
2007 Jun 25, Police and soldiers began deploying to outback Australia as part of a radical plan to end child sex abuse in Aboriginal communities which has been criticized as a return to the nation's paternalistic past.
(AP, 6/25/07)
2007 Jun 28, Dramatic flooding replaced relentless drought in parts of eastern Australia, as PM John Howard expressed hopes that the country's worst drought in a century may be coming to an end.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 1, Australian media reported that PM John Howard is secretly planning to begin withdrawing Australian troops from Iraq by February 2008. Howard denied the report, saying the idea was "absurd."
(AFP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 2, Police in Australia arrested a 27-year-old Indian doctor over the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow, and were interviewing a second doctor in the case.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 2, Australia's second largest retailer Coles said it had agreed to a 22 billion dollar (18.7 billion US) buyout offer from conglomerate Wesfarmers, the largest corporate deal in Australian history.
(AP, 7/2/07)
2007 Jul 6, Australia kicked off a round-the-world series of Live Earth music concerts designed to highlight climate change with a traditional Aboriginal welcome ceremony. Former US vice-president Al Gore appeared on video screens to launch the worldwide initiative.
(AFP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 12, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto launched a 38.1-billion-dollar offer for Canada's Alcan, trumping US rival Alcoa in a mammoth bid to create the world's largest aluminium company.
(AP, 7/12/07)
2007 Jul 14, In London an Indian doctor arrested the same day his brother allegedly drove a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas bombs into Glasgow's main airport was charged with a terrorism offense. A distant cousin in Australia was also charged in the failed attacks in London and Glasgow.
(AP, 7/14/07)
2007 Jul 15, Antun Gudelj (59), a Croatian man charged with killing three police officials in the early days of the 1991 Serb-Croat war, was extradited from Australia to Croatia to face a new trial after an earlier pardon.
(AP, 7/15/07)
2007 Jul 26, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta asked visiting Australian PM John Howard to keep Australian peacekeepers in the young nation until the end of 2008.
(AFP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 27, Mohamed Haneef (27), an Indian doctor, was freed from custody after Australia's chief prosecutor said that a charge linking him to failed terrorist bombings in Britain was a mistake. In 2010 Haneef accepted what his lawyer described as a "substantial" but confidential settlement for his ordeal in which authorities incorrectly linked him to failed car bombings at airports in London and Glasgow.
(AP, 7/27/07)(AFP, 12/21/10)
2007 Aug 1, The South Australian Supreme Court ordered its own state government to pay Bruce Trevorrow $448,000 for damages caused when he was taken from his parents without their knowledge 50 years ago.
(AP, 8/2/07)
2007 Aug 8, Australia's central bank hiked interest rates 0.25 points to a decade-high 6.5 percent in an unprecedented pre-election move that the government admitted creates a political headache.
(AFP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 14, A new study said nearly every Australian city will have to find new water supplies over the next decade as climate change and population growth stretch the nation's already limited water resources.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Aug 16, Australia’s PM John Howard said he would lift a ban on selling uranium to India, subject to strict conditions.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.40)
2007 Aug 21, An Australian court ruled that the country's immigration minister wrongly revoked a work visa for an Indian doctor who was briefly accused of links with a failed British car bomb plot in June.
(AP, 8/21/07)
2007 Aug 22, A distributor said Chinese-made blankets containing high levels of formaldehyde have been recalled across Australia and New Zealand, amid rising global concern over the safety of products from China.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 25, Australia's multi-billion dollar racing industry was plunged into turmoil on after an outbreak of equine influenza triggered a national lockdown.
(Reuters, 8/25/07)
2007 Aug 26, Australia released a new draft citizenship test. The 40-page document outlining citizenship application procedures said migrants who want to become Australian citizens will have to be able to correctly identify the country's prime minister and national flower.
(AFP, 8/26/07)
2007 Aug 30, A major new study said nearly 10 percent of Australians are living in poverty despite a booming economy, but its findings were disputed by PM John Howard.
(AP, 8/30/07)
2007 Aug 31, Australia and India agreed to study the possibility of a free trade agreement. Trade Minister Warren Truss said it was a natural result of New Delhi's rising economic power.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Sep 3, Climate change activists staged a break-in at an Australian power station as a pattern of guerrilla-style raids emerged ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney.
(AFP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 4, In Australia 2 Indonesians were jailed over a people-smuggling operation to bring 83 Sri Lankans into Australia. The two pleaded guilty to smuggling 83 Sri Lankans into Australian waters in February near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
(AFP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 4, US President George W. Bush arrived in Sydney for a regional summit with the city locked down in the biggest security operation in Australian history.
(AP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 4, 5-nation war games began in the Bay of Bengal. Indian and US aircraft carriers launched fighter jets into the air as American submarines cruised below Japanese, Australian and Singaporean warships.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 5, In Australia President Bush urged Pacific Rim nations to band together on tackling global warming, saying all major polluters must be part of any solution.
(AP, 9/5/07)
2007 Sep 6, Australian PM John Howard said he would tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would not approve the sale of uranium to Moscow if there was any possibility it could be resold to Iran or Syria.
(Reuters, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 6, In Australia Pacific Rim nations agreed that climate change was of "vital interest," but officials squabbled over whether their leaders should include energy efficiency targets in a statement at their annual summit. China’s President Hu Jintao, on the defensive over recalls of tainted toothpaste, pet food and toys, told President Bush that Beijing was stepping up product safety inspections.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 7, Leaders of Australia and Russia signed a deal to export Australian uranium to fuel Russian nuclear reactors, but promised it would not be transferred to Iran's disputed atomic program.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 7, In Australia Pacific Rim negotiators agreed on a joint statement on global warming that would ask developing nations to commit to energy efficiency targets and acknowledge that wealthy countries have greater responsibility for the problem.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 8, Asia Pacific leaders overcame differences on climate change to agree to take action against greenhouse gases at a key summit protected by the tightest security in Australian history.
(AP, 9/8/07)
2007 Sep 14, Australian police confirmed that corrupt police officers were linked with a bloody gangland war which raged for years in the country's second largest city. Melbourne's criminal war began in the late 1990s and claimed 29 lives.
(AFP, 9/14/07)
2007 Sep 19, New Zealand police found the body of Anan Liu (27), a young Asian woman in a car outside the home of a three-year old toddler, Qian Xun Xue, nicknamed "Pumpkin," who was abandoned at a train station in Australia. The father Nai Zin Xue (54), a martial arts expert and magazine publisher, caught a flight to Los Angeles after abandoning the toddler. US authorities launched a manhunt for Xue, who was captured nearly five months later by six Chinese Americans near Atlanta, Georgia. In 2009 a New Zealand jury found him guilty of his wife's murder.
(Reuters, 9/19/07)(AP, 6/19/09)
2007 Sep 21, Australia’s ex-senator Bob Collins (b.1946), who served as a minister in the early 1990s, died, days before he was due to face a hearing on 21 charges of child sex abuse dating back three decades.
(AFP, 9/26/07)
2007 Sep 24, An Australian man was conscious and spoke to his medical team during life-saving brain surgery in what doctors are claiming as a world-first procedure with cutting-edge technology.
(AP, 9/24/07)
2007 Sep 28, Australia's Anglican Church said women can be appointed bishops for the first time, drawing immediate criticism from conservatives.
(AFP, 9/28/07)
2007 Sep 29, Lois Maxwell (b.1927), the woman James Bond never seduced, died in Western Australia. The Canadian-born actress, born as Lois Ruth Hooker, took on the Miss Moneypenny role in 1962 alongside Sean Connery in "Dr No," and continued for 14 Bond films. Her films also included "Bedtime For Bonzo" with Ronald Reagan.
(AFP, 10/1/07)
2007 Oct 2, Australia’s Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said that over the past two years the intake of Africans has been cut from 70% of the total of 13,000 refugees to just 30%.
(AFP, 10/2/07)
2007 Oct 3, PM John Howard said Australia will not take any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year. He said Australia's 13,000-a-year refugee intake was being "rebalanced" from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute.
(AFP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 4, The Australian government approved plans for a controversial multi-billion-dollar pulp mill in Tasmania despite objections it could ruin one of the country's most pristine environments.
(AFP, 10/4/07)
2007 Oct 8, Australia suffered its first combat fatality in the war on terror when a soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/8/07)
2007 Oct 9, Australia's third richest man, cardboard box billionaire Richard Pratt, apologized for forming a price-fixing cartel with his main rival Amcor.
(AFP, 10/9/07)
2007 Oct 17, In Australia a group of children playing in a suburban Sidney park opened a suitcase they found floating in a pond and discovered the body of a youngster inside.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 21, Australia's opposition Labor Party chief Kevin Rudd beat PM Howard in an election debate marred by controversy when a national television network's coverage was deliberately cut. Rudd had once worked as a business consultant in China and spoke fluent Mandarin.
(AFP, 10/22/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.52)
2007 Oct 24, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said all conditions on its $38.1 billion takeover of Alcan Inc had been satisfied and most shareholders had accepted its offer.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 30, An Indonesian court dismissed a legal challenge to the death penalty brought by lawyers for members of an Australian drugs gang on death row for heroin smuggling.
(AFP, 10/30/07)
2007 Nov 7, Australia's central bank raised interest rates 0.25 points to an 11-year high of 6.75 percent in a move expected to hurt PM John Howard's re-election hopes.
(AFP, 11/7/07)
2007 Nov 11, Animal rights activists attacked as inhumane an Australian state government's plans to shoot more than 10,000 wild horses to protect the environment.
(AP, 11/11/07)
2007 Nov 12, Voters cast the first ballots in Australia's elections as a new opinion poll showed conservative PM John Howard heading for a landslide defeat.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 14, Labor party leader Kevin Rudd, the man tipped to become Australia's next prime minister, officially launched his pitch for office with pledges to withdraw combat troops from Iraq and usher in an "education revolution."
(AFP, 11/14/07)
2007 Nov 15, Greenpeace protesters stormed an Australian power plant after a US report condemned Australian electricity plants as some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases. 15 protesters were arrested after they chained themselves to conveyor belts at the Munmorah power plant on the central coast of New South Wales state.
(AFP, 11/15/07)
2007 Nov 16, A coroner urged the Australian government to seek war crimes charges against former Indonesian military officers over the 1975 killing of five Australian newsmen during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 18, Three members of Iraq's Olympic soccer team and their assistant coach left the team during a trip to Australia and are seeking asylum in the country.
(AP, 11/19/07)
2007 Nov 23, In Afghanistan Taliban militants beheaded 7 police officers after overrunning their checkpoints. An Australian commando (26) and 3 civilians were killed in a clash with Taliban militia in Uruzgan province. In 2008 the Australian military cleared its soldiers over the deaths of two women and a baby during this battle but said all civilian casualties were "highly regrettable."
(Reuters, 11/23/07)(SFC, 11/24/07, p.A3)(AFP, 5/12/08)
2007 Nov 24, In Australia conservative PM John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the left-leaning opposition. Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia's combat troops from Iraq.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Nov 25, Newly elected leader Kevin Rudd moved quickly to bring Australia into international talks on fighting global warming, and to head off potentially thorny relations with the United States and key Asian neighbors.
(AP, 11/25/07)
2007 Nov 29, Australia’s PM-elect Kevin Rudd named his Cabinet, choosing a woman as deputy leader for the first time, a former rock singer as environment minister and a lawyer from the Outback as foreign minister.
(AP, 11/29/07)
2007 Nov 30, Australian PM-elect Kevin Rudd said he would pull the country's 550 combat troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Nov 30, India's Tata Steel signed a joint venture with Australia's Riversdale Mining to develop a hard coking and thermal coal project in Mozambique.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Dec 2, In Australia night time thieves stole 17.6 tons of ham and bacon from a warehouse in suburban Sidney and left behind a message saying “Thanks" and “Merry Christmas." The stolen meat was worth up to $88,000.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 3, Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th prime minister and immediately began dismantling the former government's policies by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 5, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd spoke at the state funeral for Bernie Banton (61), who died from an asbestos-related disease he contracted while working for building products company James Hardie. Banton's dogged campaign ultimately led to the establishment of a 4 billion dollar (3.5 billion US) compensation fund for victims of Hardie's asbestos products.
(AFP, 12/5/07)
2007 Dec 7, Australian police said they had smashed an international cocaine smuggling ring spanning three continents and operating out of the Netherlands, Thailand and Canada. Of the total 40 people arrested, 14 Canadian and Australian nationals of Chinese and Vietnamese descent were picked up in Sydney and Melbourne over the past six months. Australian conman Peter Foster, once linked to the "Cheriegate" scandal involving the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, was jailed for money laundering. Foster, who pleaded guilty to a charge related to fraudulently obtaining 234,000 US dollars from the Bank of the Federated States of Micronesia, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.
(AFP, 12/7/07)(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 10, Australia accepted seven asylum seekers from Myanmar as refugees as the country's new Labor government began unwinding tough immigration laws which force boatpeople into detention on Pacific island nations.
(AP, 12/10/07)
2007 Dec 11, Australia's Deputy PM Julia Gillard (46) took charge of government in the absence of the prime minister, becoming the first woman to run the country in its 106 years as an independent nation. Gillard will lead the government for just 60 hours while PM Kevin Rudd is in Bali for the United Nations climate conference.
(Reuters, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 11, Australian officials conceded that the welfare system failed a girl who was removed from a remote Aboriginal community after being sexually abused at age 7, then gang raped in 2006 at age 10 when she was returned to live in the town.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 12, In Indonesia new Australian PM Kevin Rudd completed ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as he pressed for all nations, rich and poor, to commit to fighting global warming.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 14, Australian PM Kevin Rudd and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon jetted into East Timor to lend support to the nation's efforts to stabilize and rebuild after violence last year. Rudd pledged to support the nation's ongoing security needs during the five-hour stop.
(AP, 12/14/07)(AFP, 12/14/07)
2007 Dec 16, Australian police said they had broken up an alleged nationwide child porn ring with the arrest of six men overnight, including a former policeman, a trainee teacher and a swimming instructor.
(AFP, 12/16/07)
2007 Dec 18, An official said Australian copper thieves have turned tomb raiders, pilfering plaques and vases from cemeteries to sell the metal for scrap.
(AP, 12/18/07)
2007 Dec 21, New Australian PM Kevin Rudd met with al-Maliki during a surprise visit to Baghdad. Rudd said that after the troops withdraw in June, Australia will continue to help train the Iraqi police force and army. A gunmen attacked a family in Diyala province near Balad Ruz, killing two men and kidnapping a third. Just east of Baqouba, the capital of Diyala, two men standing in front of their house were killed by unknown armed men.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 29, In Australia David Hicks, the only person convicted of terrorism charges at a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, walked free and said he did not want to do "anything that might result in my return" to the prison in Cuba.
(AP, 12/29/07)
2007 Julian Assange, a former Australian hacker, founded Wikileaks, an international publishing service for whistle-blowers.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.67)
2007 The wine boom in Australia went bust forcing many farmers to walk away from grapes and land they could not sell.
(Econ, 3/29/08, p.84)
2007 Australia’s environment minister Malcolm Turnbull (b.1954) gave the green light for a liquefied natural gas project dubbed Gorgon.
(Econ, 11/26/16, p.37)
2007 Australia, India, Japan, and the US met for a "quadrilateral dialogue" on security matters. The first iteration of the Quad ceased to exist following the withdrawal of Australia in February 2008. The pact was revived in 2017.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrilateral_Security_Dialogue)(Econ., 11/21/20, p.36)
2008 Jan 5, Heavy rains caused flooding across parts of eastern Australia, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people as rural towns throughout the area were put on flood alert.
(AP, 1/5/08)
2008 Jan 7, Australians battled both fires and some of the worst flooding in decades that stranded residents in several communities after days of intense summer heat and storms.
(AP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 8, Nauru’s foreign minister said Australia's plans to close a much-criticized detention center for asylum seekers on Nauru will devastate its economy.
(AFP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 11, A historic passenger jet flight from Australia to Antarctica touched down smoothly on a blue ice runway, launching the only regular airlink between the continents.
(AP, 1/11/08)
2008 Jan 13, Two young adventurers completed a 62-day paddle of more than 2,000 miles to become the first people to travel from Australia to New Zealand by kayak.
(AP, 1/13/08)
2008 Jan 15, Australia's new government told an Indian envoy that it will not sell uranium to his country while it is not a member of the global nonproliferation treaty.
(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 15, An Australian judge banned the company that conducts Japan's whale hunt from killing the animals in a large part of its regular hunting grounds off Antarctica. Japanese whalers said they are holding captive two activists who "illegally" boarded their vessel in the Southern Ocean, in a dramatic escalation in the battle between the two sides.
(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 17, Australia said it would send a ship to pick up two anti-whaling activists who jumped on a Japanese harpoon vessel from a rubber boat in Antarctic waters, offering a solution to a tense, two-day standoff on the high seas.
(AP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 18, Two activists who had jumped on board a Japanese whaling boat were returned to their ship by Australian officials.
(AP, 1/18/08)
2008 Jan 21, In northeastern Australia surging floodwaters forced scores of people to evacuate their homes. Farmers described the heavy rains as a mixed blessing after years of drought.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 22, North Korea said it will close its embassy in Australia because it can no longer afford it.
(AP, 1/22/08)
2008 Jan 22, Heath Ledger (28), an Australian-born actor, was found dead at a Manhattan apartment. He received an Oscar nomination for his role as a troubled gay cowboy in the 2006 film, "Brokeback Mountain." The NYC medical examiner later said Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs.
(AP, 1/22/08)(AP, 2/6/08)
2008 Jan 23, In Australia the final issue of The Bulletin magazine was published. It was launched in 1880 and became an institution in Australian publishing.
(AP, 1/24/08)
2008 Jan 24, Doctors said an Australian girl spontaneously switched blood groups and adopted her donor's immune system following a liver transplant in the first known case of its type. Demi-Lee Brennan was aged nine and seriously ill with liver failure when she received the transplant. Nine months later it was discovered that she had changed blood types and her immune system had switched over to that of the donor after stem cells from the new liver migrated to her bone marrow. She was now a healthy 15-year-old.
(AFP, 1/24/08)
2008 Jan 27, In Australia an Aborigine elder, Mr. Ward (b.1961), died of heatstroke during a four-hour, non-stop trip to face a drink-driving charge in a prison van with broken air-conditioning. In 2010 state director of public prosecutions Joe McGrath told Ward's widow that charges would not be laid against the two guards employed by security firm GSL, now known as G4S, who were in charge of the van. In 2010 Ward’s family was awarded 3.2 million Australian dollars ($2.9 million) in compensation.
(AFP, 6/28/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Ward)(AP, 7/29/10)
2008 Feb 1, An Australian report said that Japanese harpoonists killed five whales in one day after Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd ships, which had halted the hunt in Antarctic waters, were forced to return to port to refuel.
(AFP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 3, Australian PM Kevin Rudd announced a summit of 1,000 ordinary citizens to address long-term challenges facing the nation, saying the best ideas could influence government policy. He also scolded the country's opposition for haggling over the exact content of a planned apology to Australia's Aborigines, saying its meaning will be quite clear.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 7, A new security pact between Australia and Indonesia came into force at a ceremony in Perth attended by the foreign ministers of the at-times testy neighbors.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 8, Australia's widely criticized "Pacific Solution" policy of holding asylum seekers on remote islands ended when the last detainees flew out of Nauru to live in Australia.
(AFP, 2/8/08)
2008 Feb 12, East Timor declared a state of emergency. Australian troops and a warship arrived to boost security after rebel attacks on the country's two top leaders left the president in "extremely serious" condition with gunshot wounds.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 13, Australians watched a live broadcast of their government apologizing for policies that degraded its indigenous people. PM Rudd said Australians had reached a time in their history when they must face up to their past to be able to cope with the future. Aborigines numbered about 450,000 in Australia's population of 21 million.
(AP, 2/13/08)
2008 Feb 15, Representatives for Australian Aborigines confirmed plans to launch the first compensation lawsuits since a landmark government apology earlier this week for past abuses.
(AP, 2/15/08)
2008 Feb 21, Australia's new government confirmed that it would withdraw its combat troops from Iraq by mid-year but pledged strong ties with the United States ahead of landmark talks this week.
(AP, 2/21/08)
2008 Mar 1, In Australia up to 300,000 people lined Sydney's streets to watch the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, as the largest gay pride march in the Asia Pacific region marked its 30th anniversary.
(AP, 3/1/08)
2008 Mar 1, BHP Billiton, Melbourne-based mining giant, said it plans to invest $975 million to upgrade and expand its thermal coal mines in South Africa to sustain coal exports amid soaring coal prices.
(Reuters, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 4, The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its official cash-rate target by a quarter point to 7.25% in an effort to tighten credit as inflation remained problematic.
(WSJ, 3/5/08, p.A2)
2008 Mar 4, An Australian aquaculture company claimed a world first in artificially breeding endangered southern bluefin tuna.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 5, Australia cancelled a one billion dollar (930 million US) contract for US-made Seasprite helicopters following a review of the troubled project.
(AFP, 3/5/08)
2008 Mar 7, Australian officials said police have rescued 10 South Korean women who were forced to work in a Sydney brothel by a sex slavery syndicate that lured them to Australia with promises of legitimate jobs.
(AP, 3/7/08)
2008 Mar 7, Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a protest ship harassing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, said he was shot in a high-seas clash and his crew members pelted with flash grenades, injuring one. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Japanese officials insisted only warning devices were fired.
(AFP, 3/7/08)
2008 Mar 12, In Australia police said a quarter-ton of cocaine with a street value of more than 80 million US dollars has been seized after being shipped in from Southeast Asia.
(AFP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 14, In Australia Milton Orkopoulos (50), a former New South Wales state minister, was convicted on child sex and drugs charges after being described as a "sordid genius" by prosecutors.
(AFP, 3/14/08)
2008 Mar 18, Protesters in Australia burned Chinese flags, demanding freedom for Tibet, following similar demonstrations in Europe and the US against Beijing's crackdown on anti-government riots in the Himalayan region.
(AP, 3/18/08)
2008 Mar 29, Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge went dark as the world's first major city turned off its lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
(AP, 3/29/08)
2008 Apr 1, An Australian court charged a Vietnam Airlines pilot with smuggling millions of dollars in drug profits out of the country. Quoc Viet Lai (58,) faced 40 counts of money laundering after allegedly taking 3.7 million dollars (3.4 million US) out of Australia between June 2005 and June 2006.
(AFP, 4/1/08)
2008 Apr 2, Australia began pumping carbon dioxide underground to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, using a technology that locks dangerous gases deep in the Earth.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 7, In Australia 5 teenage boys armed with machetes and baseball bats invaded a Sydney high school, smashing classrooms and injuring 18 students and a teacher.
(AFP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 8, An Australian man was sentenced to nearly three years in jail for shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter and temporarily blinding the pilot.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 10, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd met China's premier for talks expected to touch on what Rudd has called significant human rights problems in Tibet. Rudd said Chinese paramilitary police will not be allowed to run alongside the Olympic torch in Australia, after their heavy-handed tactics drew criticism in earlier legs of the relay.
(AP, 4/10/08)
2008 Apr 13, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd named Queensland governor Quentin Bryce as the next governor-general, the first woman to act as the British queen's representative in the country.
(AFP, 4/13/08)
2008 Apr 19, In Australia PM Rudd opened a summit of the nation's top minds to discuss fresh policy ideas for the future.
(Reuters, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 21, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announced that Australia has extended control of its continental shelf by nearly 1 million square miles under an agreement with the UN.
(AP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 28, In Australia police in Perth arrested Robert Agius (58) on charges of running a money laundering scheme that helped clients avoid taxes by transferring $93 million through offshore bank accounts.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 Apr 29, Australia's government promised to spend about $2.9 billion to buy river water from farmers in a bid to address the country's worst drought in a century.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 30, Attorney General Robert McClelland said Australian gay and lesbian couples will have the same rights as heterosexuals under new laws but marriage will remain off limits.
(AFP, 4/30/08)
2008 Apr 30, Western Australia state police raided the Perth offices of the Sunday Times, which is published by Australia's largest newspaper publisher, Rupert Murdoch's News Limited. Staff said police were searching for the source of a leak that led to a story alleging the state government planned to use 16 million dollars (14.9 million US) in taxpayer funds on an advertising campaign to help its re-election.
(AFP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 1, In Australia 6 people were killed in Sydney Harbor when a boat packed with revelers on a nighttime joyride and a fishing trawler collided.
(Reuters, 5/1/08)(AP, 5/2/08)
2008 May 13, Two major Australian banks agreed to a proposed merger which would create the nation's biggest financial services group worth around 66 billion dollars (62 billion US). St George, the country's fifth-largest bank, said it had agreed to an 18.6 billion dollar offer from Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia's third-largest bank by market capitalization.
(AFP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 16, In Australia protesting pensioners brought traffic to a stand still in Melbourne when some stripped to demand more money from the government.
(AFP, 5/16/08)
2008 May 19, In Australia the Tasmania state government said the Tasmanian devil will be listed as an endangered species this week as a result of a deadly and disfiguring cancer outbreak. Animal rights activists said Australian authorities have started the controversial killing of about 400 kangaroos on the outskirts of Australia's capital of Canberra.
(AFP, 5/19/08)(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 21, In Australia Milton Orkopoulos (50), the former New South Wales state minister for Aboriginal affairs, was jailed for nearly 14 years on child sex and drugs charges.
(AFP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 27, An Australian town council unanimously rejected a contentious proposal to build a 1,200-student Islamic school, citing infrastructure concerns. Mayor Chris Patterson of Camden said the decision had nothing to do with religion but was based on the impact on traffic and loss of agricultural land.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 Jun 1, Australia, a staunch US ally and one of the first countries to commit troops to the Iraq war five years ago, ended combat operations there.
(AP, 6/1/08)
2008 Jun 2, In Australia Mark Standen, an assistant director of the New South Wales state Crime Commission, was arrested for conspiracy to import controlled substances and supply prohibited drugs, and with perverting the course of justice. He is alleged to have assisted a drug-trafficking syndicate in a plan to bring to Australia 1,300 pounds of the chemical pseudoephedrine that could be used to make $114 million worth of the methamphetamine known as "ice." The masterminds of the syndicate were in the Netherlands, where 12 people were arrested last week.
(AP, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 5, Australian police said 70 men have been arrested in a global crackdown on Internet child pornography and more will be detained.
(AFP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 13, The leaders of Australia and Indonesia pledged to join forces to fight climate change by saving forests and promoting carbon trading.
(AFP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 18, An Australian government minister warned a drought crisis needed urgent attention or a crucial river system could suffer permanent ecological damage by October.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 20, Cambodian officials said authorities working with Australian police had destroyed an enormous stockpile of 33 tons of safrole-rich oil, a key ingredient used in producing the synthetic drug Ecstasy. Cambodian authorities have been working since 2002 to stem the distillation of the oil and since then have succeeded in detecting and dismantling more than 50 clandestine laboratories capable of producing up to 15 gallons of oil a day. Cambodian officials are trying to preserve the sassafras tree, which is classified as a rare species that grows mainly in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains.
(AP, 6/20/08)
2008 Jun 23, Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto said that it had agreed to a near doubling of the price of its iron ore sales to Chinese steel maker Baosteel.
(AFP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 30, In Hay, Australia, John Walsh (69) was arrested hours after hacking his two grandchildren and wife to death with an ax and badly wounding his daughter in Cowra.
(AP, 6/30/08)
2008 Jul 10, Officials said a decade-long drought in Australia's most important crop-growing region is worsening and there is little hope for relief from either saving rains or a new government conservation plan.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 11, In Australia the official program for the Catholic church's World Youth Day began, but was partly overshadowed by the launch of an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against a disgraced priest. Thousands of pilgrims converged on Sydney as it braced for the weekend arrival of Pope Benedict.
(AFP, 7/11/08)(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 12, Pope Benedict XVI left Rome on a flight to Australia for a 10-day pilgrimage. The Pope said he will use his visit to Australia to apologize for sexual abuse by priests and to examine how the Church can "prevent, heal and reconcile".
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 13, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney, after a stop in Darwin, for one of the largest Christian gatherings on Earth, starting a visit set to be marked by his apology for sexual abuse by priests in Australia.
(AFP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 15, In Australia the world's biggest Christian festival opened with a spectacular harbor-side mass for up to 150,000 pilgrims taking part in World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney headed by Pope Benedict XVI.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2008 Jul 17, In Sidney, Australia, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a stinging attack on pop culture, consumerism and "false idols" to 150,000 mainly teenaged Catholic pilgrims gathered for World Youth Day.
(AFP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Australia Pope Benedict XVI warned Christian leaders that the push to unite Christian churches was at a "critical juncture" and called on people of all religions to join together against violence.
(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Singapore Peter Lloyd (41), a TV reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was charged with trafficking about one gram of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for 100 Singapore dollars (73.5 US) at a hotel early this month.
(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Sidney, Australia, Pope Benedict apologized directly for the first time for sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, but victims groups said they wanted action and not words.
(Reuters, 7/19/08)
2008 Jul 20, In Australia Pope Benedict XVI said a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 21, In Sidney Pope Benedict XVI met privately with Australians who were sexually abused as children by priests, ending a pilgrimage to the country with a gesture of contrition and concern over a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church.
(AP, 7/21/08)
2008 Jul 23, Australia announced an extra $29 million in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratize quickly and respect human rights.
(AP, 7/23/08)
2008 Jul 29, Starbucks said it will close more than two-thirds of its 84 stores in Australia by the end of the week under a cost-cutting plan that will put almost 700 people out of work.
(AP, 7/29/08)
2008 Jul 30, Aborigines won traditional ownership rights over a large stretch of coastline in northern Australia, in a landmark ruling lawyers said could set a precedent in other parts of the country.
(AP, 7/30/08)
2008 Aug 1, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said it received correspondence from Guinea President Lansana Conte "purporting to rescind the Simandou Mining Concession." Just before his death on Dec 22 Conte signed rights to mine the northern half of the Simandou Mining Concession to Israeli businessman Benny Steinmetz for $160m, who in turn soon sold a 51% stake to Brazil’s Vale for $2.5 billion.
(AFP, 8/3/08)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.57)(Econ, 12/6/14, p.78)
2008 Aug 8, Australian Customs and police said they had seized 4.4 tons of ecstasy tablets worth nearly 400 million dollars, describing it as the biggest haul of the illicit drug anywhere in the world. Police said the seizure of the drugs, which were concealed in tins of tomato shipped to Australia from Italy, had resulted in the arrests of 21 people across the country beginning in pre-dawn raids.
(AFP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 10, In southern Australia some 5,000 people rallied to protest the dwindling water levels of the Murray River, claiming the loss was causing an environmental disaster.
(AFP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 14, Australian police arrested a Catholic priest (65) and charged him with 30 counts of sexual assault related to abuse allegations dating back three decades.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 23, In Somalia 2 Western reporters were kidnapped near Mogadishu. The next day the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) named them as Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian reporter based in Baghdad but freelancing for French television and Canada's Global National News, and Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist. Both were released after 15 months and arrived in Kenya on Nov 25, 2009. Brennan’s family mortgaged their house to raise his ransom.
(Reuters, 8/24/08)(AP, 11/26/09)(Econ, 3/16/13, p.61)
2008 Sep 1, Australian actor Michael Pate (b.1920) died of respiratory failure. He had appeared in more than 50 films and was a regular guest star on American TV shows in the 1950s and 60s.
(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 2, Australia's central bank cut interest rates for the first time in over six-and-a-half years, pushing them down 25 basis points to 7% amid signs of cooling economic growth.
(AP, 9/2/08)
2008 Sep 2, In Australia Brian Spillane, a 65-year-old ex-priest, was arrested and charged in Sydney with 60 counts relating to alleged sexual assaults against eight people. Spillane was originally charged in May with 33 child sex offenses against five people as a result of a police investigation into allegations of abuse in the 1980s at St. Stanislaus in the city of Bathurst.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 2, In Afghanistan 22 Taliban were killed in a clash in Zabul province's Naw Bahar district. 7 Arab fighters were among the dead. Another 10 militants died in clashes with Afghan and foreign troops in Nad Ali district of Helmand province. NATO troops in Operation Oqab Tsuka (Eagle’s summit) delivered a Chinese-built turbine for the power station at Kajaki. Taliban insurgents opened fire on a patrol of Australian, US and Afghan troops, as it returned to base. More than a dozen coalition troops were wounded; none died. In 2009 Australian trooper Mark Donaldson was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the British Commonwealth, for his efforts to protect the wounded during the attack.
(AP, 9/3/08)(Econ, 9/6/08, p.64)(AP, 1/16/09)
2008 Sep 3, In Australia police arrested a 66-year-old Catholic brother in connection with their probe into St. Stanislaus and a 63-year-old former teacher of another religious school in Bathurst that is also under investigation.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 5, Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia's governor general, the first woman to act as the British queen's representative Down Under. Morris Iemma (47), the embattled premier of Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, was forced to resign after his party withdrew support for him over a dramatic reshuffle of his cabinet.
(AP, 9/5/08)(AFP, 9/5/08)
2008 Sep 7, The conservation group WWF said Australian koalas are dying by the thousands as a result of land clearing in the country's northeast, while millions of birds and reptiles are also perishing. Queensland state last week revealed that 375,000 hectares of bush were cleared in 2005-06, a figure WWF said would have resulted in the deaths of two million mammals.
(AP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 8, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said Australia will not sell uranium to India unless it signs a key non-proliferation pact, despite a decision by nuclear supplier nations to end a ban on trading with New Delhi.
(AFP, 9/8/08)
2008 Sep 14, In Western Australia's 4 people died in a helicopter crash in the Bungle Bungle National Park of the remote Kimberly region.
(AFP, 9/14/08)
2008 Sep 15, An Australian jury found Abdul Benbrika (48), a Muslim cleric, and five of his followers guilty of planning to stage a "violent jihad" in Melbourne in 2005 to force Australian troops out of Iraq. A 7th man was convicted the next day. In 2009 Benbrika was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison.
(Reuters, 9/15/08)(AP, 9/16/08)(AP, 2/3/09)
2008 Sep 18, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd said the west's relations with Russia are at a turning point after its intervention in Georgia and a pact to sell Australian uranium to Moscow is in the balance.
(AP, 9/18/08)
2008 Sep 19, PM Kevin Rudd announced that Australia will launch a multi-million dollar international carbon capture and storage institute to fight global warming.
(AP, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 22, in Australia 400 sheep died in a road accident, prompting animal rights activists to repeat their call for an end to the long distance transportation of livestock for slaughter.
(AFP, 9/23/08)
2008 Sep 27, According to an estimate by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), up to A$12 billion ($10 billion) in illicit drug money could be flowing out of Australia every year.
(Reuters, 9/27/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Australia a major report to the government on global warming suggested that Australians should eat kangaroos instead of cattle and sheep.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Australia a 7-year-old boy broke into the popular Alice Springs zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock. By the time he was done, 13 animals worth around $5,500 had been killed, including a turtle, bearded dragons and thorny devil lizards.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 8, Australian scientists said hundreds of new marine species and previously uncharted undersea mountains and canyons have been discovered in the depths of the Southern Ocean.
(AP, 10/8/08)
2008 Oct 12, Australia and New Zealand gave a blanket guarantee to all bank deposits in a move likely to raise pressure on other economies to do the same, amid a crisis of confidence in the global financial system.
(AP, 10/12/08)
2008 Oct 17, Two Indonesian fishing crew picked up in Australian territorial waters with 14 refugees on their boat were charged with people smuggling.
(Reuters, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 22, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Australia will reduce its troop deployment to East Timor because of the improved security situation.
(AFP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 29, In Australia Joseph Thomas (35), a Muslim convert dubbed "Jihad Jack" by the Australian media, was sentenced to nine months in prison but freed because of time already served. He spent time at an al-Qaida training camp and met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 30, In Australia 4 teenagers were charged with attacking an almost blind greater flamingo at Adelaide Zoo. The bird is believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world.
(AFP, 10/30/08)
2008 Nov 1, In Australia the badly decomposed body of Chen Liu (27) was found in Sydney, about two weeks after a friend reported him missing. 34 nails were found during a post-mortem examination of Liu's body, and were located mainly in his skull. They were fired from an 85 mm nail gun at close range.
(AP, 4/24/09)
2008 Nov 12, A Sidney court sentenced an Australian woman to 22 months periodic detention for assisting in the suicide of her longtime partner, an Alzheimer's sufferer who had been rejected for a legal euthanasia in Switzerland.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 17, Australia said it will invest millions of dollars in non-lethal whale research to show Japan that the animals do not need to be killed in order to be studied.
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 20, The new Australian Sex Party launched at Sexpo, an annual sex exhibition in Melbourne. It has already gathered the required 500 members and plans to register with the electoral commission next week.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 23, In southeastern Australia rescuers returned 11 pilot whales to sea, a day after a pod of 64 mothers and calves were found stranded on a beach.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2008 Nov 25, In Australia BHP Billiton dropped its controversial hostile takeover bid for rival Rio Tinto because of the global economic crisis.
(AFP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 29, Joern Utzon (b.1918), the Danish architect who designed the iconic Sydney Opera House (1957), died. In 2003 Utzon won the Pritzker prize.
(AP, 11/29/08)(Econ, 12/13/08, p.104)
2008 Nov 30, In southern Australia a group of 150 whales that became stranded on a remote coastline were battered to death on rocks before rescuers could save them.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Dec 2, Australia cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 4.25%.
(WSJ, 12/3/08, p.A12)
2008 Dec 5, Australia's driest state was forced to purchase water for the first time to ensure adequate supplies in the midst of a drought. Karlene Maywald, state water security minister, said South Australia has purchased 61 billion gallons (231 gigaliters) of water so that Adelaide, the state capital, will have enough water for 2009 even if the drought continues.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 10, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said it will slash some 14,000 jobs globally to cut its debt by 10 billion US dollars as it battles falling prices and a global slowdown.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 10, In Australia Taha Abdul-Rahman of Sydney was jailed for 3½ years for buying seven rocket launchers stolen from the military between 2001 and 2003, most of which have never been recovered by authorities.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 10, Indonesia launched the Bali Democracy Forum to promote human rights and democracy. The forum was attended by foreign ministers from around 20 countries, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian PM Kevin Rudd as co-chairs.
(Econ, 2/19/11, p.43)(http://tinyurl.com/6hbsxh5)
2008 Dec 11, Australian police said detectives have charged 22 men including a policeman, a senior lawyer and a child care worker in connection with a child pornography-sharing network spanning 70 countries. Brazilian information, which was shared via the international policing network Interpol, identified more than 200 suspects in 70 countries,
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 12, A court in Australia approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking Web site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan.
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 Dec 13, Alex Bellini, an Italian adventurer, was rescued a mere 65 nautical miles short of his goal, Australia, after rough weather sapped him of his final shreds of energy. He had spent 10 months rowing more than 9,500 nautical miles (18,000 kilometers) across the Pacific.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2008 Dec 15, Australia pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least five percent by 2020 to fight climate change, but critics said the plan was a "global embarrassment" and called for deeper reductions.
(AFP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 17, Australian Aborigines won a court fight against Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata's plans to divert a river and expand one of the world's biggest zinc mines.
(AFP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 17, Two Australian women were killed when their light aircraft slammed into a suburban house in Sydney after a mid-air collision between two flying school planes.
(AFP, 12/18/08)
2008 Dec 24, In Egypt an Australian teacher (61), who allegedly stuffed his luggage with 2,000-year old animal mummies and religious figurines wrapped as gifts, was arrested and charged with smuggling antiquities.
(AP, 12/25/08)
2008 Dec, Most Australian taxpayers received checks for $900 to help stimulate the economy.
(Econ, 5/28/11, SR p.5)
2008 In Australia a video was made showing an unarmed, dark-skinned man, who refused to undergo a strip search in a Perth detention facility, screaming in apparent agony after being zapped with a stun gun eight times while surrounded by nine police officers. He was stunned another five times off-camera. The video was made public in 2010 as an example of the wrongful use of a stun gun.
(AP, 10/5/10)
2009 Jan 10, Australian police said a Canadian man has been charged with trying to smuggle more than two million dollars (1.4 million US) worth of cocaine inside forklift battery cells into Australia from Mexico.
(AFP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 11, Australia's Defense Ministry said its special forces in Afghanistan had killed Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Rasheed, who had been involved in recruiting suicide bombers and foreign fighters in Uruzgan province.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 13, Nancy Bird-Walton (93), Australian aviation pioneer, died from natural causes. She was the first woman in Australia to operate a commercial aircraft. Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, taught Watson how to fly in 1933, when she was just 17 years old. Two years later, she obtained a commercial pilot's license and began taking paying passengers for joyrides around the country.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 16, Australia granted asylum to 28 people from Afghanistan and Iran, in the first such move since relaxing tough rules on asylum seekers.
(AFP, 1/17/09)
2009 Jan 18, Australia listed the world's largest sea turtle, the leatherback, as endangered due to the threats posed by overfishing and the unsustainable harvesting of its eggs and meat.
(AFP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 19, In Thailand an Australian writer was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy. Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides (41) to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 15, Australia's tropical Queensland state declared a flood disaster over an area the size of France and Germany after recent monsoon storms. The floods are eventually expected to move inland, helping fill lakes and relieving a long-running drought in parts of Australia's desert interior and tropical north.
(Reuters, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 17, Two dehydrated men from Myanmar were found bobbing in an ice box in the Torres Strait off Australia. They told authorities they had spent 25 days adrift after their fishing boat sank. There was no sign of 18 other crew members.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 19, In Thailand Harry Nicolaides (41), an Australian writer, was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy. Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea. His 2005 book “Verisimilitude" had sold 7 copies. Nicolaides returned home on Feb 21, after he was granted a royal pardon.
(AP, 1/19/09)(SFC, 1/20/09, p.A3)(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Jan 23, In Australia rescuers poured water on the parched skin of sperm whales beached on a remote sand bank on Perkins Island to keep them alive until the next high tide. All 45 whales died with 2 days.
(AP, 1/23/09)(AP, 1/24/09)(AP, 1/25/09)
2009 Jan 29, An Australian man (36) was charged with murder after allegedly throwing his four-year-old daughter from a Melbourne bridge into the Yarra River during peak hour traffic. On April 11, 2011, Arthur Freeman was sentenced to life in prison.
(AFP, 1/29/09)(AP, 4/11/11)
2009 Jan 30, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, struggled to cope with a once-in-a-century heatwave as temperatures hit 109 degrees. The heat wave has claimed dozens of lives and sparked wildfires that have razed up to 20 homes.
(AFP, 1/31/09)(WSJ, 1/31/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 3, In Australia PM Kevin Rudd announced a $27 billion stimulus package. Australia’s Parliament passed the bill on Feb 13.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sz_2IM3K80)
2009 Feb 4, In northeastern Australia rain-battered residents were on alert for snakes in their bathrooms and crocodiles in the road following repeated storms that have sent local wildlife in search of dry land or a safe haven.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 7, In Australia searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the country's Victoria state. On “Black Saturday" some 2298 homes were destroyed with a death toll of 173. The town of Marysville and several hamlets in the Kinglake district, both about 50 miles (100 km) north of Melbourne, were utterly devastated. In 2012 James Sokaluk was jailed for at least 14 years for starting a blaze that killed 10 people and destroyed more than 150 homes at Churchill.
(AFP, 2/8/09)(Econ, 1/14/12, p.61)(AFP, 4/27/12)
2009 Feb 9, In Australia police declared incinerated towns crime scenes, and PM Rudd spoke of "mass murder" after investigators said arsonists may have set some of the country's worst wildfires in history. The official death toll from the wildfires was later downgraded to 173 from a previous count of 210.
(AP, 2/9/09)(AP, 2/10/09)(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Feb 12, Hong Kong's High Court quashed the conviction of Australian Kevin Egan, one of the city's most high-profile lawyers, who had been jailed for leaking the identity of a protected witness to a journalist.
(AFP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 12, The Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) announced that it would invest $19.5 billion in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto. In June it was reported that Chinalco would not complete the deal.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.73)(AFP, 6/4/09)
2009 Feb 12, In southern Afghanistan a gunfight between Australian forces and Taliban fighters killed at least 3 children who were caught in the crossfire in Uruzgan province. In 2010 three former Australian commandos faced serious charges in relation to the late-night raid that killed 6 Afghans, including five children. Another two children and two adults were wounded. In 2011 Australia dropped all charges against the three commandos.
(AP, 2/13/09)(AP, 9/27/10)(AP, 8/30/11)
2009 Feb 13, Australian authorities charged a man with lighting one of the wildfires that killed at least 189 people, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury. Brendan Sokaluk (39), faced two charges related to one of the February 7 fires that killed 11 people in Victoria's Gippsland region, east of Melbourne.
(AP, 2/13/09)(AP, 2/16/09)
2009 Feb 20, Australian Federal Police agents with search warrants boarded an anti-whaling group's ship, the Steve Irwin, as it docked in the southern Australian city of Hobart. They seized videotapes of violent clashes between the activists and Japanese whalers.
(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Feb 22, In Brisbane, Australia, Father Peter Kennedy (71), a rebel Catholic priest who was sacked for blessing gay couples and allowing women to preach, defied his archbishop and led mass.
(AFP, 2/22/09)
2009 Feb 23, In southern Australia more than 100 people evacuated their homes in Victoria state when new bushfires threatened communities, two weeks after the nation's worst fire disaster killed more than 200 people.
(AP, 2/23/09)
2009 Feb 26, The Australian government announced a multi-million dollar investment in research on reducing gas emissions from farm animals as part of the fight against global warming.
(AFP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb, An Australian man in Victoria state was arrested on charges of raping his daughter for 30 years and fathering four children with her. The daughter first told police about the alleged abuse in 2005, but no charges were filed because she said she feared for her safety and would not cooperate with police.
(AP, 9/17/09)
2009 Mar 2, In southern Australia rescuers used jet skis, backhoes and human muscle to save dozens of whales and dolphins stranded on Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania state's King Island. Rescuers refloated 54 whales and five bottlenose dolphins. A total of 194 pilot whales and seven dolphins became stranded the previous evening.
(AP, 3/2/09)(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 5, Australia and South Korea agreed during a summit between PM Kevin Rudd and President Lee Myung-bak to deepen security ties and launch formal talks on a free trade agreement.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 11, Australia said it would provide funding to Zimbabwe's new unity government, the first Western power to announce direct support to the new administration.
(Reuters, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 11, More than 30 shipping containers of ammonium nitrate fell off a ship in stormy seas off Australia, damaging the ship's hull and leaking up to 30 tons of oil [see Mar 13]. Swire Shipping's cargo liner Pacific Adventurer released about 200,000 liters (53,000 US gallons) of heavy fuel oil off the coast of Queensland state as it travelled through cyclonic weather. Australia later sought more than 18 million US dollars in compensation from a Hong Kong-based shipping company. In August the Hong Kong-based Swire Shipping company said it will pay Australia 25 million dollars (21 million US) in compensation for the oil spill.
(AP, 3/11/09)(AFP, 5/6/09)(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Mar 13, Dozens of popular tourist beaches on Australia's northeast coast were declared a disaster zone, with their once-pristine sands fouled by a massive oil and chemical slick. Queensland state's marine safety authority said up to 100 tons of fuel, 250,000 liters, were now believed to have spilled from the Hong Kong-flagged ship Pacific Adventurer amid cyclonic conditions on March 11.
(AP, 3/13/09)(Econ, 3/21/09, p.45)
2009 Mar 13, Terra Firma, a London-based private equity firm, announced it would buy 90% of Consolidated pastoral Company, the Australian cattle holdings of the Packer family, which encompass 12 million acres of land.
(Econ, 3/21/09, p.67)
2009 Mar 16, In southern Afghanistan two suicide bombers attacked police stations, killing 10 Afghan policemen and 2 civilians, underlining the growing threat from a Taliban-led insurgency. An Australian soldier in a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol was shot dead during a "very intense firefight" with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province.
(AFP, 3/16/09)(AP, 3/17/09)
2009 Mar 18, The Australian government said it plans to crack down on excessive executive pay packages. It will amend the Corporations Act to require shareholder approval for any termination payments that exceed average annual base salary, which excludes additional compensation such as shares or stock options.
(WSJ, 3/19/09, p.C2)
2009 Mar 19, In Afghanistan Helmand MP Dad Mohammad Khan, a key anti-Taliban lawmaker, was killed with four other men when a bomb tore through their vehicle. Australia’s defense chief said a bomb disposal expert was killed trying to defuse a device in Afghanistan, announcing the country's 10th combat death there.
(AFP, 3/19/09)(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Mar 22, In Australia warring bikers brawled through the Sidney airport, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles "like swords" as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travelers. Anthony Zervas (29) was bludgeoned to death with a crowd control barrier pole during the fracas. On June 30 Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi (29), head of the Comanchero motorcycle gang, was charged with murder.
(AP, 3/22/09)(AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Mar 23, In Australia volunteers joined rescue workers struggling to save the lives of 17 whales that survived a mass stranding on a beach on Australia's west coast. Around 90 long-finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins were found beached over more than five kilometers (three miles) in Hamelin Bay, south of the city of Perth. Most of the animals died, but rescuers were able to push four dolphins and four whales out to sea at the stranding site and truck 10 surviving whales overland to deeper waters. Six whales believed to be part of a pod that was rescued from a mass stranding re-beached themselves and two died. One of the 4 surviving whales was found dead on March 26.
(AFP, 3/23/09)(AP, 3/25/09)(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 24, Australian police arrested a senior motorcycle gang member as authorities launched a crackdown on biker groups in response to a deadly airport brawl that shocked the country and brought a simmering gang war out into the open.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 25, Australia PM Kevin Rudd visited the US and urged Americans not to view China as an enemy but as a country offering huge economic opportunities, even though its leaders have "done some bad things in the past."
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 28, Sydney became the world's first major city to plunge itself into darkness for the second worldwide Earth Hour, a global campaign to highlight the threat of climate change.
(AP, 3/28/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Australia thousands of poisonous cane toads met their fate as gleeful hunters gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they've plagued for years.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Australia a gunman opened fire on a senior member of the Hells Angels, shooting him multiple times outside a Sydney apartment complex in the latest incident in an escalating battle between biker gangs.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 30, Downtown Sydney, Australia's largest city, was plunged into chaos during the late rush hour when a power cut blacked out traffic lights, caused gridlock on the roads and left tens of thousands of buildings in darkness. The blackout exposed a flaw in the city's terrorism warning system.
(AP, 3/30/09)(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Apr 3, Australia endorsed a UN declaration that recognizes indigenous rights, reversing years of opposition and promising a new era in relations between white Australians and the nation's impoverished Aborigines. Australia was one of four nations that voted against the declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 6, In Australia a motorcycle gang leader surrendered to police and became the sixth biker charged in connection with a brawl that left a rival bleeding to death before shocked travelers at Australia's busiest airport.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 7, Australia announced plans to build a 30 billion US dollar broadband network, its biggest infrastructure project ever, opting to retain government control rather than contract out the deal.
(AFP, 4/7/09)
2009 Apr 8, A fishing vessel carrying 45 boatpeople, believed to be from Iraq, landed on Australia’s remote Christmas Island, island, a day after the opposition party said a softer stance on refugees had prompted a "surge" in illegal immigrants.
(AFP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 16, Five people were killed and dozens wounded when a blast tore apart a boat carrying more than 40 Afghan refugees off Australia's northwest coast. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation later said it was told the refugees had doused the boat in petrol to try to force the navy to land them in Australia and not turn them back to Indonesia, but that the blast was an accident. On Oct 28 two Indonesian fishermen were jailed for five years for smuggling the boat full of Afghan refugees.
(AFP, 4/20/09)(AFP, 10/28/09)
2009 Apr 17, Australia's PM Rudd denounced people smugglers who set hopeful refugees adrift in rickety boats as "scum" and pledged to step up efforts to thwart them, after one vessel exploded at sea and killed three people.
(AP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 17, Australia revealed plans to introduce national arson laws with a maximum penalty of 25 years behind bars in the wake of deadly wildfires that claimed 173 lives.
(AFP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 25, Australia intercepted a boat carrying more than 50 refugees north of Darwin, little more than a week after an explosion on another vessel killed five people. A boat carrying 32 Sri Lankan refugees was stopped near the northwest coast on April 23.
(AFP, 4/25/09)
2009 Apr 29, Australia announced it will increase by almost one half its troops in Afghanistan to about 1,550 as part of the US-led surge of international forces to bolster the faltering fight against Taliban insurgents.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 29, Two boats carrying almost 80 people were intercepted off Australia's northern coast as the conservative political opposition called for an independent inquiry into refugee policy.
(AFP, 4/29/09)
2009 May 2, Australia’s government said it will spend more than 70 billion US dollars boosting its defenses over the next 20 years in response to a regional military build-up and global shifts in power.
(AFP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 4, Australia's government put back its much-vaunted carbon-emissions trading scheme by a year, bowing to industry demands for more relief amid a recession while opening the door to an even deeper long-term reduction.
(Reuters, 5/4/09)
2009 May 4, An Afghan guard was killed by Australian Robert William Langdon as he worked for US-based private security company Four Horsemen International. A court later heard that Langdon threw a hand grenade into the truck carrying the guard's body and ordered other guards to fire into the air to simulate a Taliban attack. Langdon allegedly admitted killing the Afghan guard during a heated argument about security for a convoy. In October Langdon was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a court in Kabul. He paid a "sizeable" compensation to the victim's family and the sentenced was reduced to 20 years.
(AP, 1/27/10)(http://tinyurl.com/ybfe5lu)(AFP, 1/6/11)
2009 May 5, Australia's army started shooting 6,000 kangaroos to thin their population on an army training ground near the capital, outraging conservationists who have vowed to protest.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 6, Ben Southall (34), a bungee jumping, ostrich-riding British charity worker was named the winner of what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World," a 150,000 Australian dollar ($111,000) contract to serve as the caretaker of Australia’s tropical Hamilton Island. He beat out nearly 35,000 applicants from around the world for assignment to swim, explore and relax in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog to promote the area.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 9, Australia and Japan joined the ranks of affected countries with confirmed H1N1 swine flu. New Zealand, the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to confirm cases, reported two more for a total of seven.
(AP, 5/9/09)
2009 May 11, Australia’s armed forces chief announced that Australia will formally end its military mission in Iraq at the end of July, bringing the country's involvement in one war to a close even as it prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 12, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia will post a record 57.6 billion Australian dollar (44.1 billion US) deficit in 2009-10 as it battles the worst global recession since the Great Depression.
(AP, 5/12/09)
2009 May 14, In Australia a court suspended a government program to kill 7,000 kangaroos on federal land near the Australian capital, halting efforts to thin a mushrooming population of the beloved marsupials that authorities say are threatening endangered species.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 20, Australian authorities declared a state of emergency in Queensland as torrential rain and gale force winds caused extensive flooding and left one man dead.
(AFP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 23, In Australia thousands more people in the flood-hit east were told to leave their homes as gale-force winds lashed the coast. Emergency services said up to 20,000 people had been cut off.
(AP, 5/23/09)
2009 May 24, In Australia thousands of homeowners remained isolated in the flood-hit northeast. Authorities said days of torrential rain had created a vast "inland sea."
(AFP, 5/24/09)
2009 May 28, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith condemned a wave of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne after the latest assault left a 25-year-old fighting for his life. Indian student Sravan Kumar Theerthala was stabbed with a screwdriver on May 24 when a group of teenagers gatecrashed a party he was attending in the suburbs of Melbourne.
(AFP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jun 4, Australia's Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon (47) stepped down after a series of scandals, in the first major embarrassment for PM Kevin Rudd. Fitzgibbon had been under pressure since March when he admitted not declaring to parliamentary authorities two trips to China paid for by wealthy businesswoman Helen Liu.
(AP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 5, The Anglo-Australian firm Rio Tinto cancelled its controversial tie-up with China's Chinalco in favor of a joint venture with fierce rival BHP Billiton and a 15.2 billion US dollar rights issue.
(AFP, 6/5/09)
2009 Jun 9, In Australia a protest involving hundreds of Indian students turned into a "vigilante" attack in Sydney overnight, in the latest flare-up in racial tensions in recent weeks. Police said a group wielding sticks and baseball bats attacked men of "Middle Eastern appearance" in apparent retaliation for an earlier assault on an Indian man.
(AFP, 6/9/09)
2009 Jun 11, In Australia an Australian Aboriginal elder (46), arrested for drunk driving, died after being "cooked" in the back of a scorching hot prison van. The next day a coroner found that Mr. Ward's death breached Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(AFP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 13, In Australia it was reported Barry Tannenbaum (43), an expatriate South African businessman, has denied any wrongdoing in an alleged investment scandal. Tannenbaum has been accused of fleecing rich South Africans in what has been billed as one of the country's biggest Ponzi-style investment scandals, according to local and South African media. The massive pyramid scheme reportedly cost wealthy investors up to $1.2 billion.
(AFP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 15, In Australia Des "Tuppence" Moran (61), a former underworld enforcer, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head while enjoying a coffee in a suburban cafe. Gangland widow Judy Moran was one of three people later charged in the slaying. On March 9, 2011, Judy Moran (66) was convicted of orchestrating the execution-style murder of her brother-in-law.
(AFP, 6/17/09)(AFP, 3/9/11)
2009 Jun 22, Australian police said that an e-mail challenging PM Kevin Rudd's honesty in his 19-month-old government's biggest political crisis appeared to be a forgery.
(AP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jun 28, The Australian navy intercepted a refugee boat with 194 people aboard off the country's northwest coast. It was the 15th suspected people-smuggling craft to have been stopped in Australian waters or to have made landfall since January.
(AFP, 6/28/09)
2009 Jun 29, It was reported that Australian scientists have developed a "trojan horse" therapy to combat cancer, using a bacterially-derived nano cell to penetrate and disarm the cancer cell before a second nano cell kills it with chemotherapy drugs. Sydney scientists Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt, who formed EnGenelC Pty Ltd in 2001, said they had achieved 100 percent survival in mice with human cancer cells by using the "trojan horse" therapy in the past two years.
(Reuters, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 30, Australian serial rapist John Xydias (45) was jailed for 28 years. For over 15 years he had dressed his unconscious victims in his collection of women's underwear and filmed assaults on them.
(AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jun 30, In Australia 2 men were charged with the murder of a female student from China who went missing June 25 after a night out in Tasmania. Stavros Papadopoulos and Daniel Joseph Williams, both 21 and from Hobart, were remanded in custody after a brief appearance before a magistrate. Accountancy student Zhang Yu (26) was last seen alive outside a Hobart city center pub. Police later found her body in the Tyenna river west of Hobart. In 2010 Papadopoulos was sentenced to life in prison. Accomplice Daniel Jo Williams was sentenced to 10 years in jail on a charge of manslaughter.
(AP, 6/30/09)(AFP, 6/30/10)
2009 Jul 3, Australia announced a 155 million US dollar package for isolated Aboriginal communities, after a new report revealed shocking levels of child abuse among the downtrodden minority.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australia said Chinese authorities had detained Stern Hu, Rio Tinto Ltd's top iron ore negotiator, as well as three other Rio employees on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets, threatening to strain already fraying ties.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australian residents of rural Bundanoon, hoping to protect the earth and their wallets, voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country, and possibly the world, to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Indonesia an Australian working for the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based mining giant Freeport McMoRan was shot dead by unknown attackers in Papua.
(AFP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 16, Australia and China traded warnings over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying, as the United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair treatment for staff of foreign companies.
(Reuters, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Australian Min Lin, his wife, two sons aged 12 and 9, and a female relative were killed by blunt force trauma to the upper bodies and heads in their home in a Sydney suburb. The family had run a convenience store for more than six years after immigrating from China.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, An amateur astronomer in Australia detected a new scar on Jupiter that covered some 73 million square miles, a larger area than the Pacific ocean.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 20, In Australia Adelaide-based Vaxine began swine flu vaccine trials with 300 subjects. Melbourne's CSL had 240 people in its seven-month trial, which started Jul 22. The companies said their trials are the first tests of a swine flu vaccine on humans.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Australia Shane Kent (33), an Australian convert to Islam, admitted being part of a terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing major sports events. The former forklift truck driver was about to face a retrial on the charges, which he previously denied, after a Supreme Court jury last September failed to reach a verdict.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Aug 1, Australia's centre-left ruling party voted for national recognition of same-sex unions but stopped short of lifting a ban on gay marriage.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 4, Australian police said they thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to an al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a military base and open fire with automatic weapons until they were shot dead themselves. Some 400 officers from state and national security services took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne, before dawn, arresting four men and detaining several others for questioning. Police said all four arrested are Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese descent aged between 22 and 26.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 5, Australian police charged four men with planning to attack an army base and shoot soldiers as the government considered whether to ban a Somalia militant group linked to the plot.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 10, Australia said it has pledged 7.8 million US dollars this year to help save more than 100 indigenous languages which are in grave danger of dying out.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 11, China formally arrested four employees of Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of laying politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has strained ties with key trading partner Australia.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Australian forces shot 2 Afghan policemen on a motorcycle at the Dorafshan checkpoint near Tarin Kowt. One of the Afghans was shot 16 times and died. The other was wounded. The Australian military later said the soldiers did not know the men were police and were acting in self-defense.
(AFP, 10/13/09)(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653950.htm)
2009 Aug 13, Australian police said a 20-year-old Australian man has been charged with infecting more than 3,000 computers around the world with a virus designed to capture banking and credit card data.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 14, An Australian judge ruled that Christian Rossiter (49), a quadriplegic man who says he cannot "undertake any basic human functions," has the right to direct a nursing home to stop feeding him and allow him to die.
(AP, 8/14/09)(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 19, Australia celebrated the biggest trade deal in its history and said it proved vital ties with China had survived a series of bruising rows. PM Kevin Rudd said ExxonMobil's 41.3 billion US dollar liquefied natural gas contract with PetroChina would create up to 6,000 jobs and pump billions of dollars into the economy. PetroChina ordered 2.25 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year over two decades from ExxonMobil's share of the still-undeveloped Gorgon plant off Western Australia.
(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 20, Australia passed a clean energy law requiring the country to produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 in move that could draw billions of dollars of green investment.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 21, Australian leader Kevin Rudd and his trans-Tasman counterpart John Key chaired the first-ever joint meeting of their cabinets, and said it had been a valuable opportunity to discuss their joint challenges. They vowed closer military ties and collaboration on climate change in the historic meeting.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, A massive oil and gas leak forced the evacuation of an oil rig off Australia's northwest coast. PTTEP Australasia, a branch of Thai-owned PTT Exploration and Production Co. Ltd., said about 40 barrels of oil had been discharged in the initial incident, and it was still attempting to bring the leak under control at the rig, owned by Norway's Seadrill. After 2 days PTTEP said plugging the leak will take weeks. Government officials said there was little threat of environmental damage. By the end of October an estimated 400 barrels a day of oil continued leaking from the fissure off the Australian coast. PTTEP Australasia has failed repeatedly to stop the leak but said it is still trying.
(AFP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Aug 22, The West Australian town of Broome, with deep historical ties to Japan, voted to sever its sister city relationship with the Japanese village of Taiji to protest an annual dolphin slaughter near there. At an extraordinary meeting on October 13 Broome rescinded the decision, which it said was made in haste and without wide consultation, and issued an apology to the Japanese community in Broome and Taiji, their families and friends for any disrespect caused by council's resolution. But it noted that it did not condone the harvest of dolphins in Taiji, with which it forged sister-city relations in 1981.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AFP, 10/16/09)
2009 Aug 26, Australia's highest court ruled that the country's military justice system is unconstitutional because its judges are not independent of the military command, throwing into doubt 171 cases judged in the past two years.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 27, A senior UN official condemned Australia's controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal communities, describing the measures as discriminatory and finding entrenched racism in Australia.
(Reuters, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 29, Australian authorities intercepted a boat carrying 52 suspected asylum seekers, the 18th such vessel to be discovered this year.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Australia millionaire Michael McGurk (45), a Scottish-born property developer, was gunned down in front of his son (10) outside their exclusive Sydney home. In 2007 McGurk had unsuccessfully tried to sue the Sultan of Brunei over an alleged eight million US dollar agreement to buy a 400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran.
(AFP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 9, Australia announced that it has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian forces in East Timor.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 10, Australia announced liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals worth up to 60 billion US dollars with Japan and South Korea, raising its status as a major energy supplier.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 11, A risk consultancy said Australians have overtaken Americans as the world's biggest individual producers of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for global warming. British firm Maplecroft placed Australia's per capita output at 20.58 tons a year, some four percent higher than the United States and top of a list of 185 countries.
(AFP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 12, Australia intercepted a boat carrying 83 suspected asylum seekers off its northwest coast after it was spotted from the air by a military patrol plane. Later in the day the Australian navy intercepted a suspected people-smuggling boat carrying 65 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.
(AFP, 9/12/09)(AFP, 9/13/09)
2009 Sep 14, In Australia energy giants Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil agreed to develop the massive Gorgon field, giving the final go-ahead to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 15, Australia announced shock plans to break up dominant telecommunications player Telstra to boost competition as it presses ahead with a 37 billion US dollar national broadband network.
(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 18, Australia approved a vaccine against swine flu and said it would start administering the medicine this month to its most at-risk citizens, including medical staff, pregnant women and the chronically ill. Regulators approved CSL Ltd.'s vaccine for people above age 10, but the Therapeutic Drug Administration was awaiting the results of more clinical trials before approving it for younger children.
(AP, 9/18/09)
2009 Sep 19, Australian authorities delivered a formal apology to the many thousands of people who were abused in state-run orphanages and children's homes in decades past.
(AFP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 20, Australian border protection officials rescued 54 asylum seekers from a boat stranded in northern waters.
(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 21, Christian Rossiter (49) an Australian quadriplegic died, ending an existence he had described as a "living hell." On Aug 14 he had won a landmark legal battle to starve himself to death by refusing food.
(AP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 23, Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed the heavily populated east coast in a cloud of red Outback grit, nearly closed the country's largest airport and left millions of people coughing and sputtering in the streets.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 23, An Australian naval ship stopped a boat carrying 98 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 24, Australia said it has created a massive nature reserve in the country's far north that will be managed by Aborigines. The so-called Indigenous Protected Areas in the Northern Territory contain rock art sites that are 50,000 years old and wilderness areas rivaling the nearby World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.
(AFP, 9/24/09)
2009 Sep 25, An Australian court sentenced Belal Khazaal (39), a former Qantas Airways baggage handler, to 12 years in prison for publishing a do-it-yourself jihad book on the Internet. The book was titled "Provisions of the Rules of Jihad: Short Judicial Rulings and Organizational Instructions for Fighters and Mujahideen Against Infidels." Khazaal had also been convicted in absentia by Lebanese military courts in 2003 and 2005 on terrorism-related charges.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 26, The Australian town of Bundanoon pulled all bottled water from its shelves and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is believed to be a world-first ban.
(AFP, 9/26/09)
2009 Oct 2, An Australian woman was sentenced to life in prison for the starvation death of her 7-year-old daughter. The woman was convicted of murder in June. Her husband, convicted at the same time of manslaughter in his daughter's death, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. The girl, known as Ebony, weighed barely 20 pounds (9kg) when she died in November, 2007.
(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 2, A boat carrying about 100 asylum seekers left an Indonesian port bound for Australia but never arrived. The information was made public in May, 2010, by Australian Customs and Border Protection Service chief executive Michael Carmody during a routine Senate inquiry into government operations.
(AP, 5/25/10)
2009 Oct 6, Australia's central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates by a quarter point, becoming the first major economy to increase the cost of borrowing amid signs its recovery from the global slump is gaining momentum.
(AP, 10/6/09)
2009 Oct 9, Japanese officials said they have obtained rights to develop platinum mines in South Africa and Botswana in a bid to ensure a stable supply of the metal. The government-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC) said it has signed a contract with Discovery Metals in Australia to jointly develop nickel and platinum mines in northeast Botswana. It has also inked another deal with Canadian firm Platinum Group Metals to explore for platinum in South Africa.
(AFP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 16, In Australia 5 Muslim men were convicted of plotting the country’s largest terrorist conspiracy as part of a bid to force the government to change its policy on Middle East conflicts. The men, aged 25-44, were arrested in a series of raids on their homes in 2005. On Feb 15, 2010, the 5 men were sentenced to 23 to 28 years in prison for stockpiling explosive chemicals and firearms for terrorist attacks on unspecified targets.
(AP, 10/16/09)(AP, 2/15/10)
2009 Oct 18, In Australia Jessica Watson (16) steered her bright pink, 10-meter yacht out of Sydney Harbor to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Her decision sparked a debate in Australia about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a potentially dangerous feat. She completed her voyage on May 15, 2010.
(AP, 10/18/09)(AP, 5/15/10)
2009 Oct 19, Energy group Chevron announced a new natural gas discovery off Western Australia that will help support the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
(AFP, 10/19/09)
2009 Oct 20, Australian officials said a leech found at a crime scene in 2001 led police to a man who admitted robbing an elderly woman. The leech dropped off Peter Cannon as he and an accomplice tied a 71-year-old woman to a chair in her remote home in the Tasmanian woods on Sept. 28, 2001.
(AP, 10/20/09)
2009 Oct 22, In Australia Don Lane (75), an American song-and-dance man known as "The Lanky Yank," died. He was handed a full-time gig on Australian TV in 1975 and "The Don Lane Show" became a ratings winner, a mixture of cabaret acts, interviews, comedy skits and a song from the tall host to close each show.
(AP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 23, Australia approved Yanzhou Coal's 3.2 billion US dollar takeover of miner Felix Resources, its biggest by a Chinese firm, in a breakthrough for the Asian giant's scramble for commodities.
(AP, 10/23/09)
2009 Oct 30, Indonesian officials and fishermen said thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil have been found drifting near the coastline more than two months after an Australian underwater well began leaking in the Timor Sea on Aug 21.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Nov 1, PTTEP Australasia attempted to plug a leaking well of the West Atlas drilling rig when a fire then broke out on the rig. The operation to stem the leak has involved the Thai-based operator towing the West Triton rig from Singapore, which took five weeks, to drill down some 2.6km under the seabed to the source of the emissions. The leak has dumped thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea since it began on August 21. The blaze was brought under control on Nov 3 when experts managed to plug the leak that has spewed tons of crude over the past 10 weeks.
(AP, 11/1/09)(AFP, 11/2/09)(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 1, A boat carrying 39 apparent asylum seekers sank in the Indian Ocean far from shore. A Taiwanese fishing trawler and the merchant ship LNG Pioneer arrived in the area and deployed life rafts and began plucking people from the water. The stricken ship was in Australia's maritime search and rescue zone when it sent out distress calls. Up to 11 were still missing, and one person was confirmed dead.
(AFP, 11/2/09)
2009 Nov 4, In Australia a stabbing rampage at a secure psychiatric hospital left two people dead. The next day Peko Lakovski (49) was charged with two counts of murder after reportedly attacking his room-mate Raymond Splatt with a kitchen knife, before turning on another patient who was in bed at the time.
(AFP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 7, Australian authorities declared a natural disaster along parts of the country's east coast as heavy floods cut the main road linking major cities, stranding thousands of people.
(AFP, 11/7/09)
2009 Nov 10, An Australian student sparked fears of a new era of computer viruses after creating a worm which infects Apple's iconic iPhone with pictures of 1980s pop star Rick Astley.
(AFP, 11/10/09)
2009 Nov 11, The Australian Capital Territory, home to the nation's parliament, became the first Australian region to legalize civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples, in a move supporters hoped would spark national momentum.
(AFP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 15, British officials said PM Gordon Brown will apologize to thousands of British children who were shipped to new lives overseas, where many say they suffered neglect and abuse. Thousands of poor British children were sent to Australia, Canada and other former colonies under the Child Migrants Program, which ended in the 1960s. Many ended up in institutions or as farm laborers. The British government has estimated that a total of 150,000 British children may have been shipped abroad between 1618 — when a group was sent to the Virginia Colony — and 1967, most of them from the late 19th century onwards.
(AP, 11/15/09)
2009 Nov 16, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd issued an historic apology to thousands of impoverished British children shipped to Australia with the promise of a better life. But his government ruled out paying compensation for the abuse and neglect that many suffered.
(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Nov 17, Australian doctors successfully separated joined-at-the-head Bangladeshi twins after more than 24 hours of surgery, saying the girls were "in great shape" but faced a difficult recovery.
(AFP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 18, Australian PM Kevin Rudd voiced "concerns" about the Church of Scientology after a senator detailed explosive allegations including torture, imprisonment and coerced abortions.
(AFP, 11/18/09)
2009 Nov 20, In Australia 2 executives at Securency, a banknote-making firm part-owned by Australia's central bank, were suspended over a police probe into alleged bribery and kickbacks. According to a May 23 report by The Age newspaper, Securency officials had paid more than 12 million dollars in kickbacks for a printing contract to a Vietnamese businessman with links to the communist state's government. Officials were also accused of paying bribes worth millions of dollars into tax haven bank accounts of a politically-connected Nigerian businessman to win a 2007 contract.
(AFP, 11/22/09)
2009 Nov 20, Australian firefighters battled dozens of bush blazes as record-breaking hot weather sparked "catastrophic" warnings in two states, just months after the country's worst ever wildfire disaster.
(AFP, 11/20/09)
2009 Nov 21, Australia issued "catastrophic" alerts after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country.
(AFP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 25, Australian Northern Territory officials said some 6,000 feral camels are running wild in the remote outback community of Docker River in search of water, smashing infrastructure and invading the airstrip.
(AFP, 11/25/09)
2009 Dec 2, Australia's plans for an emissions trading system to combat global warming were scuttled in Parliament, handing a defeat to a government that had hoped to set an example at international climate change talks next week.
(AP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 5, Australia welcomed a 90 billion dollar (82 billion US) deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Japanese power company in what is believed to be the country's biggest export sales contract.
(AFP, 12/6/09)
2009 Dec 7, ITV, the British TV channel behind hit show "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!", apologized for the death of a rat during filming in Australia, as the stars who killed it faced police charges.
(AFP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 9, Australia’s government said 5 North Korean artists have been banned from entering Australia for an exhibition of their work, drawing accusations of censorship from the arts community. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the artists and a translator have been refused visas because it is contrary to foreign policy interests and because they are from a studio linked to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
(AFP, 12/9/09)
2009 Dec 10, In southeastern Australia more than 120 wildfires fanned by high winds and soaring temperatures raged, prompting emergency warnings for several towns.
(AP, 12/10/09)
2009 Dec 11, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd threatened legal action against Japan if it does not stop its research whaling program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australia said it would push ahead with a mandatory China-style plan to filter the Internet, despite widespread criticism that it will strangle free speech and is doomed to fail. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said new laws would be introduced to ban access to "refused classification" (RC) sites featuring criminal content such as child sex abuse, bestiality, rape and detailed drug use.
(AFP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australian scientists reported the discovery of an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter, unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 23, Australian officials said residents were "fleeing for their lives" as savage wildfires blazed out of control in South Australia, with several homes destroyed and more under threat.
(AFP, 12/23/09)
2009 Dec 28, New Zealand’s supermaxi Alfa Romeo yacht was first across the finish line in the Sydney to Hobart ocean race, ending a four-year winning streak by Australian favorite Wild Oats XI.
(AFP, 12/28/09)
2009 Dec 31, In Australia residents returned to survey the wreckage after Western Australia's worst wildfire in 50 years engulfed 38 homes in an isolated rural community.
(AFP, 12/31/09)
2009 Tony Abbott (b.1957), Australian politician and leader of the labor Party, authored his memoir “Battlelines."
(Econ, 9/14/13, p.54)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Abbott)
2009 Australian Jeff Lawton created his “Re-greening the Desert" video. In 1996 Lawton was accredited with the Permaculture Community Services Award by the permaculture movement for services in Australia and around the world.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPvsl9ni-4)(http://tinyurl.com/pqg85mz)
2009 Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), an intelligence agency, tried to tap the phones of Indonesia’s Pres. Susilo Bambang, as well as his wife and several of his innermost circle. This only became public in 2013.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.43)
2010 Jan 1, It was reported that Australian researchers have cracked the genetic origin of the deadly cancer that is threatening to wipe out Tasmanian devils, raising hopes that the animal's future is safe.
(AFP, 1/1/10)
2010 Jan 2, In Australia Indian accounting graduate Nitin Garg (21) was stabbed by unknown attackers before collapsing in the Melbourne burger restaurant where he worked. On June 17 a 15-year-old Australian boy was charged with the stabbing murder. On June 18 the boy (16) was charged with accessory to the killing. On April 20, 2011, the boy (16) pleaded guilty to the murder and one count of attempted armed robbery. On Dec 22 the boy was sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.
(AFP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)(AFP, 6/18/10)(AP, 4/20/11)(Reuters, 12/22/11)
2010 Jan 3, In southeastern Australia more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Coonamble, in central New South Wales, as the worst floodwaters to hit the area in a decade threatened to swamp a remote farming town.
(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 8, Australia angrily condemned an Indian newspaper cartoon likening its police to the Ku Klux Klan over their investigations into the recent murder of a young Indian man. 4 men reportedly poured an unidentified fluid on Jaspreet Singh (29), a man of Indian descent, and set him alight in a suburb of Melbourne, leaving him with 15% burns. Singh was later charged with making a false report to police and criminal damage with a view to gaining financial advantage over the incident, allegedly to make an insurance claim.
(AFP, 1/8/10)(AFP, 1/9/10)(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Jan 11, Riversdale, an Australian mining firm, said the Mozambican government has given it the green light to build a 800-million-dollar coal mine in the country's northwest. Riversdale has predicted that the Benga project will produce some of the lowest-cost coking coal in the world.
(AFP, 1/11/10)
2010 Feb 2, Australian researchers said they had discovered a gene associated with long-sightedness, a development they said could lead to drug treatments that will replace glasses.
(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Feb 4, Australia said it used an anti-weapons of mass destruction law to block three shipments to Iran but calls for new sanctions against the Islamic state opened up a new international divide.
(AFP, 2/4/10)
2010 Feb 6, Australian miner Resourcehouse said it has signed a 60-billion-US-dollar coal deal with energy-hungry China, calling it the country's "biggest-ever export contract." The company said it had negotiated a 20-year agreement to supply China Power International Holding Limited with 30 million tons of coal a year from a proposed mine in central Queensland. The initial report mistakenly identified the Chinese company as China Power International Development (CPI).
(AFP, 2/6/10)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 8, Australia tightened its migration rules in favor of English speakers and professionals, saying the country has been attracting too many hairdressers and cooks and too few doctors and engineers.
(AP, 2/8/10)
2010 Feb 8, In Australia ITV Studios, producer of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," was fined 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,615) after pleading guilty of animal cruelty after two reality show contestants skinned, cooked and ate a rat during filming in Australia.
(AP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 11, In Australia a shadowy group of cyber-activists succeeded in jamming key Australian government websites for a second consecutive day and warned they could shut down the sites for months in protest over controversial plans to filter the Internet. Codenamed "Operation: Titstorm", the hacking campaign involved hundreds of people from around the world and used a technique called Distributed Denial of Service to jam web traffic.
(AFP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 19, Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Mother Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), making the woman known for her work among the needy Australia's first saint. Sainthood was also approved for Stanislaw Soltys, a 15th-century Polish priest; Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Varano; Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola and a Canadian brother, Andre Bessette (d.1937). The formal canonization will take place Oct. 17 in Rome.
(AP, 2/19/10)
2010 Feb 23, PM Kevin Rudd said Australia plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from about 10 high-risk countries in a bid to combat extremism, which is now a "permanent" threat. He added that Australia will spend 69 million dollars (62 million US) on new biometric facilities and will set up a national control centre to coordinate efforts to fight extremism.
(AFP, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 24, Australia resumed free-trade talks with China after a 14-month gap, sweeping aside a brief plunge in ties to focus on a booming partnership tipped to deliver decades of growth.
(AFP, 2/24/10)
2010 Feb 26, Australia warned Japan that "diplomacy comes to an end this year" on whaling, after presenting a bold plan to phase out the controversial hunts in the Southern Ocean.
(AFP, 2/26/10)
2010 Feb 27, In Australia thousands of people in lavish costumes and various states of undress danced and partied their way through Sydney's streets, in the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
(AP, 2/27/10)
2010 Mar 1, In Australia about 5,200 naked people embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick.
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 2, In Australia Seth Enslow, an American motorcycle stuntman twice, broke the world record for the longest distance jumped on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, sailing through the air near Australia's Sydney Harbor to shatter the previous 10-year-old record. Bubba Blackwell set the previous record with a 157 foot (47.85 meters) jump in Las Vegas in 1999.
(AP, 3/2/10)
2010 Mar 4, In Australia Gurshan Singh (3), who was visiting from Punjab in northern India, disappeared from a suburban house in Melbourne. His body was found about six hours later some 30 km (20 miles) away, not far from the city's airport. On march 7 police alleged that Gursewak Dhillon (23), a part-time taxi driver who had been sharing a house with the boy and his family, was responsible for the boy’s death.
(AFP, 3/5/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)
2010 Mar 5, An Australian court ruled that the once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and was unfit for consumption, awarding a man leading a class action suit against the drug's maker 287,000 Australian dollars ($259,000) in compensation.
(AP, 3/5/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Australia Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy, hoping for a bigger slice of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 9, Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Canberra with PM Kevin Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce waiting on the red carpet. He was soon appointed an honorary companion of the Order of Australia for his work after the 2002 Bali bombing. Yudhoyono will become the first Indonesian leader to address a joint sitting of Australia's parliament on March 10.
(AFP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 19, Australia's Hollywood A-listers, prime minister and top tycoons launched a new campaign for Aboriginal jobs with a spectacular light show at Sydney's iconic Opera House.
(AFP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 21, Tropical Cyclone Ului blew across the coast of northeastern Australia leaving some 60,000 homes without power.
(AFP, 3/20/10)
2010 Mar 22, In China four executives of Australia mining giant Rio Tinto pleaded guilty in Shanghai to taking bribes.
(SFC, 3/23/10, p.D3)
2010 Mar 23, Internet giant Google led high-profile criticism of Australia's controversial plan to filter the Internet, saying it went too far and could set a dangerous precedent.
(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 24, Australia and China signed a multibillion dollar natural gas deal, pushing ahead with business as the trial of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto ended in Shanghai with a verdict still to be announced.
(AP, 3/24/10)
2010 Mar 25, A top Australian official said about 100 Australian police are being investigated for circulating racist and pornographic e-mails via the internal police e-mail system, and one officer involved in the scandal has committed suicide.
(AP, 3/25/10)
2010 Mar 27, In Australia Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge went dark along with millions of homes at the start of Earth Hour, a global switch-off aimed at revitalizing efforts against climate change.
(AFP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 30, Australian media groups and sports bodies signed a code of conduct aimed at ending years of disputes and boycotts over press coverage of major sporting events.
(AP, 3/30/10)
2010 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd announced the country’s first population minister, citing concerns about sustainability as the number of people is tipped to balloon within decades.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, The 230-meter (754-ft) Shen Neng I, a bulk coal carrier, was on its way to China when it ran aground on a shoal off offshore from the Australian city of Rockhampton. Australian government officials said the stranded ship was leaking oil into the sea and is in danger of breaking up and damaging the Great Barrier Reef. The ship was refloated on April 12.
(Reuters, 4/4/10)(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 6, Australia announced its fifth rate hike since October and said borrowing costs would continue to rise as growth and inflation return to normal after the global crisis.
(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 9, Australia suspended refugee applications from Afghans for 6 months and 3 months for Sri Lankans, citing improved conditions in those countries. Human rights advocates expressed concern about the move and an immigrant group condemned it.
(AP, 4/9/10)(Econ, 4/17/10, p.47)
2010 Apr 14, Australian police arrested a Chinese ship captain and senior officer and charged them with damaging the Great Barrier Reef, more than a week after their coal carrier ran aground and tore a two-mile (three km) gash in the protected area.
(AP, 4/14/10)
2010 Apr 14, An Australia officials said swarms of locusts have infested a huge area of eastern Australia, roughly the size of Spain, ravaging farmland following recent floods.
(AFP, 4/14/10)
2010 Apr 19, In Australia Carl Williams, known as the baby-faced killer, was killed in Victoria state's highest security prison by a fellow inmate who attacked him with part of an exercise bike.
(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2876669.htm)(AFP, 4/30/10)
2010 Apr 20, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd said he had reached agreement with all but one of Australia's states on major health reforms which he hopes will spearhead his 2010 re-election campaign.
(Reuters, 4/20/10)
2010 Apr 29, Australia said it will force tobacco companies to strip all logos and color from their packaging, in a move aimed at driving people away from smoking.
(SFC, 4/30/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 29, A giant NASA science balloon crashed during take-off in Australia, destroying its multi-million-dollar payload, toppling a large car and narrowly missing frightened observers.
(AFP, 4/29/10)
2010 May 2, Australia said it would impose taxes worth billions of dollars on mining companies to tap the profits of an Asia-driven commodities surge, prompting warnings it could "kill" the boom.
(AFP, 5/2/10)
2010 May 9, Australia's government said 5 people are feared dead and 59 people were rescued from a disabled boat carrying suspected asylum-seekers in the Indian Ocean.
(Reuters, 5/9/10)
2010 May 14, In Australia the body of Nona Belomesoff (18) was found in an isolated bushland area. Christopher James Dannevig (20) was charged with her murder. He had allegedly set up a fake identity on Facebook and enticed Belomesoff to a nature reserve in Sydney's southwest on May 12.
(AFP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 15, In Australia Jessica Watson (16) became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted when she cruised into Sydney Harbor in her pink, 34-foot (10m) yacht to a rock star welcome of thousands. Her feat will not be considered an official world record, because the World Speed Sailing Record Council discontinued its "youngest" category.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 20, Australian police raided 12 properties associated with Agape Ministries, led by Rocco Leo, and netted 15 guns, slow-burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
(www.apologeticsindex.org/1666-agape-ministries)(AFP, 6/27/11)
2010 May 24, Australia demanded that Israel withdraw an embassy official from the country, saying the Jewish state was behind fake Australian passports linked to the killing of a Hamas operative.
(AP, 5/24/10)
2010 May 28, Australia said it will challenge Japan's whale hunting in the Antarctic at the International Court of Justice, a major legal escalation in its campaign to ban the practice despite Tokyo's insistence on the right to so-called scientific whaling.
(AP, 5/28/10)
2010 May 31, Australia filed an international lawsuit against Japan arguing that its whale cull does not qualify for a scientific exemption to a 1986 ban. Japan said the next day that it would staunchly defend its research hunt that kills hundreds of whales per year.
(AP, 6/1/10)
2010 Jun 6, Australia’s attorney general said police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws. The investigation followed complaints from members of the public about activities of Google employees while taking photographs for Google Maps, the search engine's maps page. Google said it would cooperate with the investigation.
(Reuters, 6/6/10)
2010 Jun 13, Japan’s Hayabusa space probe, which scientists hope contains material from the surface of an asteroid returned to Earth, landed in the remote Australian outback following a 7-year journey.
(AFP, 6/13/10)(SFC, 6/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jun 15, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced it was investing 469 million US dollars to develop a nickel and copper mine in northern Michigan. Construction of the Kennecott Eagle mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will begin this year.
(AFP, 6/16/10)
2010 Jun 19, A plane carrying a group of Australian mining executives disappeared en route from Cameroon to Congo-Brazzaville. All 11 on board were killed wiping out the entire board of the Sundance Resources company including mining tycoon Ken Talbot. The wreckage was found June 21 in the Congo jungle.
(AFP, 6/20/10)(AFP, 6/22/10)
2010 Jun 22, Australia reinstated race discrimination laws in the remote Northern Territory region after suspending them for three years to pursue a controversial crime crackdown in poor Aboriginal townships. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said: "Reinstating the RDA (Racial Discrimination Act) restores dignity and helps Indigenous Australians to take ownership of their lives and to drive change in the Northern Territory."
(AP, 6/22/10)
2010 Jun 23, Australian PM Kevin Rudd announced a shock ballot to fight a challenge from his deputy Julia Gillard, raising the prospect of the country's first female head of government. Rudd emerged from marathon late-night talks with Gillard and other ministers to tell a hastily convened press conference the vote would be held early on June 24.
(AFP, 6/23/10)
2010 Jun 24, Julia Gillard (48), a Welsh-born lawyer, became Australia's first female prime minister after the once hugely popular Kevin Rudd fell victim to a party coup less than three years after taking office. Gillard moved to revive a stalled carbon trading scheme, pledging more consultation with industry and voters to win support for an issue that has split the nation.
(AP, 6/24/10)(Reuters, 6/24/10)
2010 Jun 25, New Australia PM Julia Gillard pledged to end a mining tax row as soon as possible after spending her first day in power speaking to world leaders and assuring Washington of Canberra's commitment to Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jul 5, Australia's new leader launched a plan to make East Timor a hub for processing asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution across Asia while a debate rages in her country over illegal migration.
(AP, 7/5/10)
2010 Jul 5, In Australia Brendan Sokaluk pleaded not guilty to charges that he deliberately started one of the deadly wildfires that swept through southern Australia last year. The fires in Victoria state in February 2009 were Australia's deadliest, killing 173 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes. Brendan Sokaluk is accused of starting one blaze that investigators say killed 10 people.
(AP, 7/5/10)
2010 Jul 6, Australia's new PM Julia Gillard ended a three-month freeze on processing Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, and said a bar on Afghan claims was under review.
(AFP, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 8, Australian police investigated the mysterious mass poisoning of seven million tomato, eggplant and other crops which is expected to send prices soaring. Detectives probed whether vandals or a competitor with a grudge had put herbicide in sprinklers at a nursery near the northeastern city of Cairns, wiping out 16 million tons of produce, mostly tomatoes.
(AFP, 7/8/10)
2010 Jul 9, In Afghanistan an explosion ripped into a convoy of NATO and Afghan forces in eastern Nangarhar province, killing one civilian and wounding nine others. Australian Pvt. Nathan Bewes was killed just before midnight by a homemade bomb, the 6th Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan in just over a month.
(AP, 7/9/10)
2010 Jul 13, Australian police said they have seized 240 kg (530 pounds) of cocaine worth 84 million dollars ($73 million) which was stashed in paving stones. 4 men including an American, a Mexican and two Australians were arrested over the haul, Australia's fifth biggest cocaine seizure, which was discovered in two shipping containers sent to Melbourne from Mexico.
(AFP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 15, Australian scientists reported their discovery of bizarre prehistoric sea life hundreds of kilometers below the Great Barrier Reef, in an unprecedented mission to document species under threat from ocean warming.
(AFP, 7/15/10)
2010 Jul 19, American companies TPG and Carlyle Group edged out KKK in a takeover battle for Healthscope, an Australian hospital chain with a bid of $1.7 billion.
(Econ, 7/24/10, p.64)
2010 Jul 19, David Warren (b.1925), an Australian scientist who invented the "black box" flight data recorder, died. He designed and constructed a black box prototype in 1956, but it took several years before officials understood just how valuable the device could be and began installing them in commercial airlines worldwide. In 2002, Warren was awarded the Order of Australia, among the nation's highest civilian honors, for his work.
(AP, 7/20/10)
2010 Jul 20, The Australian Sex Party promised to spice up campaigning for next month's elections with a manifesto "unlike Australia had ever seen before." The party's policies include legalizing euthanasia, decriminalizing all drugs for personal use, and watering down strict anti-pornography laws.
(AFP, 7/20/10)
2010 Jul 24, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard pledged 400 million dollars (360 million US) to take old cars off the road and vowed to impose tougher fuel standards as part of her election policy on climate change.
(AP, 7/24/10)
2010 Jul 26, The Plastiki sailboat, largely constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles, docked in Sydney Harbor completing a 4-month journey across the Pacific Ocean meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 29, Australia said it will impose new sanctions against Iran, including restrictions for the first time on business dealings with that country's oil and gas sector.
(AP, 7/29/10)
2010 Jul 30, The Australian government committed to expanding its fiber broadband Internet network to a further 300,000 homes across the vast island continent if re-elected at next month's polls.
(AFP, 7/30/10)
2010 Jul 31, UNESCO added seven cultural sites to its World Heritage List including Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, home to nuclear bomb testing in the 1940s and 1950s. Also added to the list were the Turaif District in Saudi Arabia; Australia's penal colony sites; the Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site in India; a shrine in Ardabil in Iran; the Tabriz historic bazaar complex, also in Iran; and the historic villages of Hahoe and Yangdong in South Korea.
(AP, 8/1/10)
2010 Aug 2, In Australia publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk (25) sued Australia's poshest department store and its former head, Mark McInnes, for 33 million US dollars over alleged sexual misconduct that led to the disgraced chief executive's resignation. McInnes abruptly quit in June after claims of inappropriate behavior were made.
(AP, 8/2/10)
2010 Aug 6, Australian scientists reported a study revealing that sea sponges share almost 70 percent of human genes.
(AFP, 8/6/10)
2010 Aug 9, A leading Chinese general urged closer ties with Australia's military, amid a continuing freeze on Beijing's contacts with the Pentagon.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 13, In Australia 2 men were gunned down in a popular Melbourne bar area, shortly after the killing of a known crime figure sparked fears of a new gang war in the city's notorious underworld.
(AFP, 8/13/10)
2010 Aug 18, Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton launched an enormous hostile takeover bid for Canada's Potash Corp which values the world's largest fertilizer producer at 40 billion dollars.
(AP, 8/18/10)
2010 Aug 19, An Australian Muslim woman, who sought permission to keep her face and head covered while she gives evidence at an upcoming trial, was told by a judge she would have to remove her veil. She is a prosecution witness in a case against the director of a company that ran a Muslim women's college in Perth. The director, Anwar Sayed, is accused of inflating the number of students at the school in 2006 and 2007 to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grants.
(AP, 8/19/10)
2010 Aug 19, Neil P. Campbell, An Australian construction manager, was indicted Aug. 19 by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on the charge of receiving a bribe while working for an organization receiving US government funds. On Oct 13 he was detained in India for allegedly taking a $190,000 bribe to allow a subcontractor to build a hospital and college in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2010 Aug 20, BHP Billiton Group announced commencement of all cash-offer to acquire Potash Corp. for $130 per share. On Nov 3 Canada blocked the Anglo-Australian mining giant’s $39 billion bid. The deal would have cost Saskatchewan an estimated C$200m a year in tax revenues.
(Reuters, 8/20/10)(Reuters, 11/3/10)(Econ, 11/6/10, p.50)
2010 Aug 21, Australians voted between giving their first female prime minister her own election mandate and returning to a conservative government after just three years. The inconclusive election left the nation facing its first hung parliament since 1940. Both Labor and the Liberal-led coalition conceded that neither is likely to hold the 76 seats needed to form a government in the 150-seat lower chamber.
(Reuters, 8/21/10)(AP, 8/22/10)
2010 Aug 21, In Australia Ken Wyatt (b.1952) took office as the country’s first indigenous member of the House of Representatives. In 2017 he became Minister for Indigenous Health, the country’s first aboriginal minister.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wyatt)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.34)
2010 Aug 22, Australian PM Julia Gillard vowed to keep the country stable after a voter backlash produced a rare hung parliament, raising fears of political paralysis and economic pain. Gillard and Tony Abbott, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, said they had initiated talks with three independents in the House of Representatives as well as the Greens party in a bid to secure their votes in the House of Representatives.
(AP, 8/22/10)
2010 Aug 27, Australian police warned social networking sites to be alert to illegal child sex activity, after cracking an alleged pedophile porn ring operating on Facebook. Australian police said six arrests had been made in Britain, including the alleged head of the network, three in Australia and two in Canada.
(AFP, 8/27/10)
2010 Sep 2, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard edged closer to retaining power when an independent lawmaker said he would support her center-left Labor Party to form Australia's first minority government in almost seven decades.
(AP, 9/2/10)
2010 Sep 7, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard will lead the country's first minority government in 67 years after two independent lawmakers threw their support behind her center-left Labor Party, ending two weeks of uncertainty left by national elections that ended on a knife-edge.
(AP, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 8, In Australia a kangaroo was beaten to death with a metal pole in the Great Otway National Park in the southern state of Victoria. Three 8th grade pupils were later suspended from school as authorities investigated the beating.
(AFP, 9/17/10)
2010 Sep 11, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard unveiled her new cabinet, with Wayne Swan retaining his treasury portfolio and former climate minister Penny Wong moved to the senior finance portfolio. Former PM Kevin Rudd was named as the country’s new foreign minister, a high-profile and coveted posting that will be seen as a consolation prize for being ousted from the leadership.
(Reuters, 9/11/10)(AP, 9/11/10)
2010 Sep 16, Australian scientists said they had made a breakthrough in the fight to save the cancer-hit Tasmanian devil by mapping the species' genome for the first time.
(AFP, 9/16/10)
2010 Sep 20, In Australia a Fijian man died suddenly at a Sydney immigration center, with a protest breaking out in the compound after claims he had jumped from a rooftop fearing deportation.
(AFP, 9/20/10)
2010 Sep 26, Australian climate change activists closed down operations at the world's largest coal port after entering its three terminals and attaching themselves to loaders.
(Reuters, 9/26/10)
2010 Sep 28, Australia’s new Parliament was sworn in and included Ed Husic, the country’s first elected Muslim, who was sworn in with his hand on his parents' Koran.
(AFP, 9/28/10)
2010 Sep 28, An Australian mining company said it has discovered deposits in Mozambique of rare minerals with a variety of industrial uses. The minerals found included dysprosium, used to make laser materials and in components of nuclear reactors.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Sep 28, In Malaysia Kylie Tanti Marion (42), an Australian woman, fell to her death when her parachute failed to open after she jumped off the Alor Setar Tower to practice for the KL Tower International Jump on Oct. 7.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Oct 2, Australian PM Julia Gillard met the chief of international forces in Afghanistan and vowed support for the US-led mission in a surprise visit to troops on her first overseas trip as leader.
(AFP, 10/2/10)
2010 Oct 7, Australian PM Julia Gillard dropped her unpopular "citizens' assembly" to guide climate change policy after the plan drew fierce criticism during the recent election campaign.
(AFP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 8, In Australia plan was released by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to restore ailing rivers, posing a new headache for the Labor minority government. Farmers would lose more than a third of irrigation water in the major food bowl.
(Reuters, 10/8/10)
2010 Oct 10, The 10/10/10 event known as the "Global Work Party" kicked off in Australia and New Zealand before spinning its way across the globe with events in 188 countries. Environmental campaigners planted trees, collected rubbish and rallied against pollution for what organizers aimed to make the world's biggest day of climate-change activism.
(AFP, 10/10/10)
2010 Oct 10, Dame Joan Sutherland (83), renowned Australian opera soprano, died at her home in Switzerland.
(SFC, 10/12/10, p.C3)
2010 Oct 12, Australian PM Julia Gillard renewed her backing for a controversial Internet filter, saying it was driven by a "moral question."
(AFP, 10/12/10)
2010 Oct 13, Australia and Indonesia agreed to further discuss plans for a refugee centre in East Timor to stem the flow of asylum seekers through Southeast Asia on their way to Australia.
(AFP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 14, Australian police seized half-a-ton of cocaine from a luxury yacht in one of the country's largest ever hauls of the drug. 3 Australians were charged in connection with the yacht seizure.
(AFP, 10/14/10)
2010 Oct 17, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Australia's first saint, canonizing Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), a 19th-century nun. The Vatican also declared five other saints in an open-air Mass attended by tens of thousands. Brother Andre (1845-1937), a Canadian, Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla da Varano, and Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola were also canonized.
(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 18, Australia’s Justice Minister Brendan O'Connor said illegal pornographic material must be declared on arrival, watering down recent rules that asked for all pornography to be revealed. The government said it changed the wording on passenger arrival cards after becoming aware of confusion among travelers about what pornography to declare.
(AFP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 25, The Singapore and Australian stock exchanges announced an 8.3 billion dollar merger that would create one of the world's largest and most diversified financial trading hubs.
(AFP, 10/25/10)(Econ, 10/30/10, p.78)
2010 Nov 1, Australian police said a mother (55) and son (28), along with a 33-year-old Hong Kong man, have been charged over one of the country's biggest heroin hauls after drugs with a potential street value of 405 million US dollars were found in a shipment of doors.
(AFP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 1, Britain's BG Group announced it will spend 15 billion US dollars on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia, an investment Canberra hailed as a boost for the national economy.
(AFP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 3, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan vowed to crack down on "arrogant" banks in an extraordinary attack as major lenders face mounting anger over rising interest rates and fees.
(AFP, 11/3/10)
2010 Nov 4, A Qantas A380 with more than 450 people on board made a dramatic forced landing in Singapore, trailing smoke from a blackened engine after the Airbus superjumbo's first mid-air emergency. In response Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines suspended flights of the Airbus A380 superjumbos. In 2013 the engine failure was traced to an oil pipe that failed to conform to design specifications.
(AFP, 11/4/10)(Reuters, 11/4/10)(AP, 6/27/13)
2010 Nov 6, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said their countries would enhance their military and defense cooperation by expanding joint exercises and the use of each other's training facilities. They also pledged to work together to influence the behavior of an increasingly assertive China.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 8, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard said the government plans to hold a referendum within three years on whether to amend its constitution to acknowledge the Aborigines as the first Australians.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 8, Qantas extended the grounding of its Airbus A380 superjumbos for at least three more days after finding oil leaks in some engines, heightening safety fears after two mid-air blow-outs last week.
(AFP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 18, Australian officials said they would deport Gabe Watson, an American man convicted in the 2003 death of his wife on a scuba-diving honeymoon after US officials pledged not to seek the death penalty if he is convicted again at home.
(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 20, In Australia David Auchterlonie was murdered on his 17th birthday in New South Wales. Mathew Milat (17) and Cohen Klein (18) had planned for over a week to lure Auchterlonie to his death. In 2012 Matthew Milat, a relative of serial killer Ivan Milat, pleaded guilty to the ax murder and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Cohen Klein also pleaded guilty and was sentenced for at least 22 years.
(AFP, 6/8/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belanglo_State_Forest)
2010 Nov 22, In Australia police said that an ongoing operation has smashed a cartel that has raked in an estimated 400 million Australian dollars ($395 million). Police had already arrested 34 people and seized 6,000 cannabis plants in the biggest series of drug raids in the history of Victoria state.
(AP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, Australia promised to be a future long-tem supplier of rare earths to Japan, after China suspended shipments of the minerals to its neighbor.
(Reuters, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 24, Australia said that a Thai-owned oil firm's "widespread and systematic shortcomings" caused the worst offshore drilling accident in the country's history, which created a massive oil slick. Thousands of barrels of oil gushed into the sea from a damaged well after a blow out on the West Atlas rig on August 21, 2009, prompting the evacuation of workers.
(AFP, 11/24/10)
2010 Nov 27, Australia's Qantas Airways resumed flights of its Airbus A380 superjumbos, after a mid-flight engine failure grounded all six of the planes earlier this month.
(Reuters, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov, Sarah Bara was beaten to death with sticks on Groote Eylandt off the northern Australian coast. In 2011 Glenys Wurrawilya, Susie Wurrawilya, Paul Wurramara and Roderick Mamarika received sentences ranging from five years to seven-and-a-half years in jail. The four were accused of killing Ms Bara during a fire circle ceremony in which they attempted to cleanse her of the devil.
(AP, 12/23/11)(http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=189133)
2010 Dec 2, Australia's PM Julia Gillard slammed WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents as "illegal," in the country's strongest condemnation yet of the website's ongoing release of sensitive data.
(AP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 2, Australian contractor Leighton Holdings said it had won a 22-year coal mining contract with India's state-owned NTPC power company worth 5.5 billion dollars (5.3 billion US).
(AFP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 3, Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian mining firm, announced a joint venture with Chinalco, to hunt for minerals in China.
(Econ, 12/18/10, p.130)
2010 Dec 8, Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said that the US government is responsible for the leaking of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic memos and cautioned against blaming the website that published the secret cables and its founder.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, Australia's attorney general declared 45 communities along the country's east coast disaster areas, following weeks of drenching rains that have submerged homes, destroyed crops and killed four people.
(AP, 12/10/10)
2010 Dec 12, Australia unveiled tough changes to finance laws, banning unpopular mortgage fees and cracking down on price collusion between major banks in a bid to boost competition in the sector.
(AFP, 12/12/10)
2010 Dec 15, Australia signed an agreement with Brazil to share knowledge on putting on the Olympics to help preparations with Rio's hosting of the 2016 Games.
(AFP, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 15, In New South Wales, Australia, police found seven boxes of chemical glassware used to make drugs when a van was stopped outside the town of Quirindi. A forensic search of the van later found 43 pounds of hidden ecstasy tablets with a street value of about 20 million Australian dollars ($19.7 million).
(AP, 12/19/10)
2010 Dec 15, In violent seas off Australia’s Christmas Island at least 48 refugees, thought to be from Iran and Iraq, died after their wooden boat shattered before horrified witnesses. 42 survivors, including 9 children were rescued. On January 24, 2011, Australian authorities charged three Indonesian men with people smuggling. Iranian-born Ali Khorram Heydarkhani (40) was detained by Indonesian authorities on January 25 but only sent to Australia after overstaying his visa. On May 12, 2011, he was charged in Sydney with offences relating to the boatpeople disaster.
(AFP, 12/15/10)(AP, 12/16/10)(AP, 12/20/10)(AP, 1/25/11)(AFP, 5/12/11)
2010 Dec 15, Ben Zygier (34) reportedly committed suicide in a high-security Israeli jail after being held for months in great secrecy. His body was soon flown from Israel to Melbourne for burial. The Australian man had reportedly been recruited by the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Zygier's crime was to inadvertently reveal the identity of Ziad al-Homsi to a Lebanese man he was trying to turn into a double agent, but who worked for Lebanese intelligence. Al-Homsi had been approached by Mossad in 2007 and flown to China on the pretext of attending a mayoral convention.
(Reuters, 2/12/13)(AP, 2/19/13)(Reuters, 5/7/13)
2010 Dec 21, The Australian Defense Force said steroids and unidentified substances had been seized in recent raids after a tip-off. A report claimed Australian sailors have been stashing large amounts of cocaine and heroin on navy ships and selling them in Sydney's red light district and that this has been going on "for years."
(AFP, 12/21/10)
2010 Dec 22, In Australia Kok Loong Wong of Malaysia appeared in a Sydney court charged with possessing 200 pounds (90 kg) of crystal meth in his home, the seventh-largest "ice" haul in Australian history.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2010 Dec 23, In Australia Melbourne men Wissam Mahmoud Fattal (34), Nayef El Sayed (26), both of Lebanese descent, and Somali-origin Saney Edow Aweys (27) were found guilty of conspiring to plan a terrorist act, which carries a possible life term. Two other men, Somali-origin Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed (26) and Yacqub Khayre (23) were found not guilty after the three-month trial.
(AP, 12/23/10)
2010 Dec 23, Anglo-Australian resources giant Rio Tinto made a 3.9 billion US dollar offer for Australia's Riversdale, sparking speculation of a bidding war for its African steel-making coal with Indian and other rivals.
(AP, 12/23/10)
2010 Dec 28, In Australia drenching rains pounded communities across the northeast, flooding major highways and prompting hundreds of evacuations.
(AP, 12/28/10)
2010 Dec 29, Australia’s military cleared a town in eastern Australia, airlifting the entire population of 300 people by helicopter in Theodore, where waters were continuing to rise after days of drenching rain. A total of 1,000 people were evacuated from central and southern Queensland state.
(AP, 12/29/10)
2010 Dec 31, In Australia floodwater rose across a vast area in the northeast, inundating 22 towns, forcing 200,000 residents out of their homes, and closing a major sugar export port.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Australian PM Kevin Rudd penned a children's book featuring his family pets. It was titled "Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle."
(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010 Australia’s population was about 22 million and was expected to reach 36 million in 2050.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.46)
2011 Jan 1, Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in the flooded city of Bundaberg that the flood disaster was of biblical proportions. Days of driving rain last week swamped northeastern Australia, with around 200,000 people affected by floodwaters in an area larger than France and Germany combined.
(AP, 1/1/10)
2011 Jan 3, Australian military flights rushed to restock the coastal city of Rockhampton before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake. Police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011 Jan 5, Queensland's premier said Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt. Officials and scientists said the disastrous floods have spread to 40 towns and threatened the world-famous Great Barrier Reef as tons of sludge poured into the sea.
(AP, 1/5/11)(AFP, 1/5/11)
2011 Jan 8, In Australia almost a foot of rain in just a few hours renewed flood fears in the already waterlogged Queensland state, sending a surging river over its banks and into another large town. Some 20 buildings in Maryborough, where about 22,000 people live, were expected to be flooded after the river burst its banks in the overnight downpour.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 9, In Australia a swollen river submerged bridges and inundated homes and stores in Australia's already sodden Queensland state as more heavy rain added to the country's worst flooding in decades.
(AP, 1/9/11)
2011 Jan 10, In Australia flash floods swept through the city of Toowoomba, killing at least four people, trapping others in cars and leaving some clinging to trees. A 26-foot (8-m) wall of water was coursing through the low-lying communities from Toowoomba and eastward toward Queensland’s state capital, Brisbane.
(AP, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 11, In Australia thousands of people fled central Brisbane as the panicked city braced for its worst flooding in 120 years. Terrifying flash floods already left 10 dead and 78 missing nearby.
(AFP, 1/11/11)
2011 Jan 12, In Australia floodwaters poured into the empty downtown of Australia's third-largest city after tearing a deadly path across the northeast, swamping neighborhoods in what could be Brisbane's most devastating floods in a century.
(AP, 1/12/11)
2011 Jan 13, Australia's 3rd-largest city Brisbane resembled a "war zone" with whole suburbs under water and infrastructure smashed as the worst flood in decades hit 30,000 properties. The Brisbane River peaked at 4.5 meters. The flooding in Queensland left 28 people dead.
(AP, 1/13/11)(SFC, 1/17/11, p.A2)(Econ, 1/15/11, p.45)
2011 Jan 18, In Australia the city of Horsham, Victoria state, resembled a lake after the Wimmera River overflowed its banks and bisected the community before starting to recede. The weekslong flooding crisis has left 30 people dead.
(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 20, In Australia a surging river flooded and isolated Kerang, Victoria state, the latest community hit in the deadly flood disaster, straining a levee serving as the main protection between the muddy waters and residents' homes. The flooding shut down much of Queensland's lucrative coal industry and has caused 30 deaths.
(AP, 1/20/11)
2011 Jan 24, Lara Giddings took over as premier Australia’s island state of Tasmania.
(Econ, 2/12/11, p.49)
2011 Jan 27, Australia imposed a temporary new tax to help fund a multi-billion-dollar rebuilding program after floods devastated infrastructure and ruined thousands of homes and businesses across the eastern seaboard over the past month.
(Reuters, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan, In Australia Lynette Daley (33), an Aboriginal woman, was found bloodied and bruised on Ten Mile Beach in northern New South Wales. An autopsy found she died from blunt force genital tract trauma after allegedly being subject to a violent sex act by a man assumed to be her boyfriend Adrian Attwater and his friend Paul Maris. For five years prosecutors refused to try Adrian Attwater and Paul Maris for her death.
(http://tinyurl.com/zej5sor)(SFC, 12/17/16, p.A4)
2011 Feb 1, Australia evacuated thousands of people from its northeast coast as a cyclone rivaling Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism towns and rural communities.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 2, In northeastern Australia Cyclone Yasi ripped roofs from buildings and cut power to thousands of homes. The scale of disaster was unknown as officials and residents holed up while the tempest raged.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011 Feb 2, In Afghanistan Australian Corporal Richard Edward Atkinson (22) was killed while on patrol in Uruzgan's Deh Rahwod. This upped the number of Australian troops killed in the conflict to 22.
(AFP, 2/3/11)
2011 Feb 3, Australia's biggest cyclone in a century shattered entire towns after pummeling the coast and churning across the country. One man asphyxiated while sheltering inside during the massive cyclone and become the storm's first fatality.
(AFP, 2/3/11)(AP, 2/3/11)
2011 Feb 5, In Australia torrential rains and flash floods trapped scores of people in homes and cars following a massive cyclone, piling on more misery after weeks of record inundations.
(AFP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 6, In Australia wildfires destroyed homes around Perth and flooding claimed the life of a man near Wagga Wagga, as officials warned that last week's monster cyclone would compound economic woes.
(AFP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Western Australia firefighters battled two wildfires, water bombing them from above as they tried to stop their spread. One on the outskirts of Perth destroyed at least 40 homes and left a firefighter injured.
(AP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, Australian firefighters brought a raging wildfire that destroyed 68 houses and damaged 32 others near the city of Perth under control.
(AP, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 10, Australian PM Julia Gillard introduced contentious legislation for a one-off tax to help pay for devastating floods which killed 35 people and swamped thousands of homes.
(AFP, 2/10/11)
2011 Feb 17, An Australian diver was killed by sharks in south Australia, in only the second fatal shark attack in Australian waters in more than two years.
(AP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 19, An Australian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were shot dead by insurgents in Uruzgan province, bringing Australia's death toll from the conflict to 23.
(AP, 2/19/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Australia hundreds of thousands of revelers crammed inner Sydney streets for one of the world's premier gay and lesbian parades.
(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 9, In Australia Todd Bairstow (28) was fishing with his dog at a creek near the town of Weipa in northern Queensland when a four-meter (13-feet) saltwater crocodile lunged at him and tried to drag him under the water. The crocodile only retreated after Bairstow's friend heard his screams from the nearby pub and helped beat off the predator.
(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 10, Australia’s Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the nation’s spy agency ASIO has established a 'cyber' intelligence unit to counter possible terror attacks on computer systems from abroad.
(AFP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 10, The Natural History Museum in London said that it has agreed to return 138 sets of skeletal remains of indigenous people to Australia, in what it hailed as a new approach to the delicate subject of repatriation.
(AFP, 3/10/11)
2011 Mar 13, In Australia Owsley Stanley (b.1935), counterculture maker of LSD and Grateful Dead associate, died in a car crash. His Bear Research Group reputedly made over 1.25 million doses of LSD from 1965-1967.
(SFC, 3/14/11, p.A1)
2011 Mar 15, Australia's remote Christmas Island detention centre was hit by a second night of riots, with up to 200 asylum seekers destroying closed-circuit television cameras.
(AFP, 3/15/11)
2011 Mar 17, In Australia a pod of long-finned pilot whales beached themselves at Bruny Island, south of the Tasmanian state capital Hobart. 21 whales died but 11 were saved.
(AP, 3/18/11)
2011 Mar 23, Scientists warned that up to 45 rare species of wallaby, bandicoot and other Australian animals could become extinct within 20 years unless urgent action is taken to control introduced predators and other threats.
(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 24, Eyad Abuarga, an Palestinian-born Australian information technology expert, was detained in Israel over alleged links to Hamas.
(AFP, 5/29/11)(http://tinyurl.com/4xfnexu)
2011 Mar 26, Voters in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, delivered a crushing defeat to PM Julia Gillard's Labor party, handing power to the conservative opposition in a landslide.
(Reuters, 3/26/11)
2011 Mar 27, Yang Hengjun (46), a Sydney-based spy novelist, phoned an assistant from Guangzhou airport in southeastern China to say three men were following him. Yang was later able to briefly phone a sister in Guangzhou to say "he's having a long chat with his old friends." This was a prearranged signal that Yang had been taken by the secret police. Yang was an official in the Chinese Foreign Ministry before moving to Australia. His novel, "Fatal Weakness," deals with espionage between China and the United States and has been published on the Internet in China. On March 31 Hengjun said he is OK and apologizing for causing trouble.
(AP, 3/29/11)(AP, 3/31/11)
2011 Mar 28, Australia launched its first national health TV advertising campaign aimed at Aboriginal people, hoping to halve the 50 percent of indigenous people who smoke by 2018.
(AFP, 3/28/11)
2011 Mar 28, Australia's annual cane toad cull was declared a success by organizers who said that more than 14,000 of the noxious pests had perished as a result. The number of cane toads across Australia is estimated to have ballooned to more than 200 million since being introduced from Brazil in the 1930s to control scarab beetles infesting the country's sugar cane.
(AFP, 3/28/11)
2011 Mar 29, In Australia Sydney's Daily Telegraph said American intelligence officials tipped off the government that several thousand emails may have been accessed from the computers of at least 10 ministers including PM Julia Gillard's parliamentary computer. Chinese intelligence agencies were among the list of foreign hackers that were under suspicion.
(AFP, 3/29/11)
2011 Apr 4, The Australian Institute of Criminology's "Fraud against the Commonwealth" report showed Australia is losing almost Aus$600 million a year to social security fraud and crooked public servants as the government announced new measures to tackle the menace.
(AFP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 6, The Australian military was hit by another scandal after a young army recruit allegedly filmed himself having sex with a female cadet and broadcast it via Skype to his friends.
(AFP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 8, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan officially rejected a proposed merger of the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges, branding it a takeover by the city-state that offered no benefits.
(AFP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 11, Australia fined Japan Airlines (JAL) Aus$5.5 million (US$5.8 million) after the carrier admitted its role in a long-running cargo cartel case involving 15 airlines. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said JAL admitted to "making and giving effect to illegal price-fixing understandings with other international airlines" on fuel, insurance and security surcharges.
(AFP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 15, An Australian Crime Commission report said organized crime costs Australia up to Aus$15 billion (US$15.8 billion) each year. The report warned that opportunities for illegal activity were unprecedented.
(AFP, 4/14/11)
2011 Apr 20, A South Australian politician was detained and charged with four child pornography offences.
(AFP, 4/21/11)
2011 Apr 22, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto settled a long-running dispute over Guinea's huge Simandou iron ore field, with the West African nation agreeing to take a stake of up to 35 percent.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 26, Australian PM Julia Gillard, visiting China, raised a range of human rights concerns in talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who denied China had taken a "backward step."
(AFP, 4/26/11)
2011 Apr 27, In Australia University of Sydney officials said an anonymous American donor has given "Jeune fille endormie, a 1935 Pablo Picasso painting worth millions, to the university on the condition the school use proceeds from the painting's sale to fund scientific research. The portrait was donated last year.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 Apr 29, In Australia a gunman killed three neighbors then shot a police officer in the face during a shootout and siege in the normally sleepy city of Adelaide.
(AP, 4/29/11)
2011 May 2, The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Benedict XVI had "removed from pastoral care" Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane. Morris had called on the church to consider ordaining women and married men.
(AP, 5/2/11)
2011 May 5, Australian police said they have arrested four people and seized 239 kg (527 pounds) of methamphetamine, or ice, in the country's biggest bust of its kind.
(AFP, 5/5/11)
2011 May 6, Australia's Defence Ministry announced it will slash 1,000 civilian jobs as part of a belt-tightening exercise to bring the national budget back into surplus.
(AFP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 7, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard said Malaysia has agreed to take hundreds of asylum seekers who land in Australia illegally and called this "big blow" to people smugglers.
(AFP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 9, In Australia organizers of the Sydney Writers' Festival said Chinese authorities have barred dissident writer Liao Yiwu from traveling to Australia for a festival for "security reasons" and advised him against publishing his works abroad.
(AFP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 9, Abu Dhabi donated US$32 million dollars to Queensland to help protect the Australian state from cyclones in the wake of a monster storm that hit in February.
(AFP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 11, In Australia WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's top honor for "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights", joining the likes of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
(AFP, 5/11/11)
2011 May 11, India said it had lodged a complaint with the Australian government over swimwear carrying the image of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi that has sparked protests. Fashion house Lisa Blue promised to halt production immediately and apologized for any offence the design may have caused.
(AFP, 5/11/11)
2011 May 12, In Australia two Malaysians were arrested and charged with importing heroin into Australia with a street value of more than Aus$50 million (US$53 million), the country's biggest haul in a decade.
(AFP, 5/12/11)
2011 May 16, Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald said a development application has been lodged for a Aus$12 million (US$12.7 million) extension to the Stiletto brothel, which proposes doubling its size to 40 working rooms and 21 waiting rooms.
(AFP, 5/16/11)
2011 May 27, Australian anesthesiologist, Dr. James Latham Peters (61), was charged with endangering his patients' lives after police alleged he infected nearly 50 women with hepatitis C at an abortion clinic.
(AP, 5/27/11)
2011 May 27, It was reported that A 22-year-old Australian university student has solved a problem which has puzzled astrophysicists for decades, discovering part of the so-called "missing mass" of the universe during her summer break. Undergraduate Amelia Fraser-McKelvie made the breakthrough during a holiday internship with a team at Monash University's School of Physics, locating the mystery material within vast structures called "filaments of galaxies."
(AFP, 5/27/11)
2011 May 28, Thousands of people turned out for Australia's first "SlutWalk," protesting for women to be able to wear whatever they like without fear of being sexually assaulted. SlutWalk began in Canada in April after a Toronto police official said that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."
(AFP, 5/29/11)
2011 May 30, Australian robots have begun talking to each other in a language of their own devising. Two "Lingodroids," developed by the University of Queensland, have picked up their shared language by playing location games that led them to construct a shared vocabulary for places, distances and directions.
(Reuters, 5/30/11)
2011 Jun 5, Thousands of Australians across the country rallied to support a tax on the carbon emissions blamed for global warming, as a new report outlined the risks of rising sea levels from climate change.
(AFP, 6/5/11)
2011 Jun 19, In Fiji Agape Ministries leader Rocco Leo, a fugitive Australian cult leader, was picked up by officials, along with two associates, for alleged visa breaches. On May 20, 2010, Australian police raided 12 properties associated with Agape and netted 15 guns, slow-burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
(www.religionnewsblog.com/26049/cult-leader-rocco-leo-arrested)(AFP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 21, In Australia Hundreds of flights were grounded in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra as the Chilean ash cloud returned to Australia with a vengeance.
(AFP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 24, UNESCO added the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia, Japan's remote Ogasawara Islands and the Kenya Lake System in the Rift Valley province, to its heritage list.
(AFP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jun 27, In Australia Hong Kong-based Philip Morris Asia Limited launched legal action against the government over plans to strip company logos from cigarette packages and replace them with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jul 1, Australian federal police charged two currency printing firms and several of their former senior managers with bribing foreign officials to secure bank note supply contracts. The charges against Securency International Pty Ltd., one of the world's leading currency printing firms, and Note Printing Australia Ltd. related to alleged bribes paid to officials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam between 1999 and 2005.
(AP, 7/1/11)
2011 Jul 2, Australian aviation regulators grounded budget carrier Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore's Tiger Airways, because it posed a "serious and imminent risk to air safety", throwing the travel plans of thousands of people into chaos.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 2, Australian officials worked to isolate potential victims after uncovering two more cases of the deadly horse-borne Hendra virus, which has erupted in New south Wales and Queensland. Hendra can lead to fatal respiratory illness and has killed four of the seven people who have contracted it in Australia since it was first documented in 1994.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 6, Australia announced it would lift a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia and resume trade with additional safeguards in place to address animal cruelty concerns.
(AFP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jul 10, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard announced plans to tax carbon pollution at Aus$23 (US$24.74) per ton to help battle climate change, as it moved towards creating the region's biggest emissions trading scheme.
(AFP, 7/10/11)(Econ, 7/16/11, p.41)
2011 Jul 12, Australia's major alcohol brands launched voluntary health warnings on their labels targeting children, pregnant women and excessive boozing in a country famed for its binge-drinking culture.
(AFP, 7/12/11)
2011 Jul 17, Christian Martinez, an Australian convert to Islam, was pinned down and lashed 40 times for drinking alcohol by a group of 4 Muslim men who broke into his Sidney home to punish him for breaking sharia law. Two of the men were soon charged with aggravated breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offense.
(AFP, 7/19/11)(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Jul 21, Australian police raided the Sydney offices of Greenpeace over their destruction of an experimental crop of genetically modified wheat at a government research farm.
(AFP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 24, Cadel Evans won the Tour de France, becoming the first Australian to capture cycling's most prestigious title.
(AP, 7/24/11)
2011 Jul 25, The Catholic Church in Australia apologized for the forced adoption of babies from young, unwed mothers in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, saying the practice was "deeply regrettable."
(AFP, 7/25/11)
2011 Jul 26, Australia authorities said a lethal bat-borne horse virus has been detected in a dog for the first time, prompting fears it has jumped species.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 26, Australian painter Margaret Olley (88), one of Australia's most important and respected artists, was found dead at her Sydney home. She was best known for her colorful still life paintings.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 27, In Australia a 25-year-old unemployed truck driver (online nickname "Evil"), who had been unable to find a job in information technology, faced 49 charges after a six-month investigation into his online activities.
(AP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jul 28, Australian farmer Steve Marsh launched legal action against neighbor Michael Baxter after genetically modified canola blew onto his farm, prompting authorities to strip him of his organic license.
(AFP, 7/28/11)
2011 Aug 3, In Australia a masked man, later identified as Paul Peters, strapped a fake bomb to the neck of Madeleine Pulver (18) in her suburban Sydney home. Pulver endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal with experts working into the night to remove the device, only later establishing it was an elaborate hoax. Peters fled to the US and was arrested nearly two weeks later in Louisville, Kentucky. He was extradited to Australia and faced 20 years in prison. On Nov 20 Peters was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison.
(Reuters, 8/16/11)(AFP, 3/8/12)(AP, 10/31/12)(AP, 11/20/12)
2011 Aug 10, Australian Clifford John Gerathy (60), accused of funneling Aus$17.2 million ($17.8 million) in bribes to a Vietnamese official and falsifying Malaysian accounts, was charged over a banknotes scandal. He was charged with conspiracy to bribe a foreign public official and false accounting.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 10, Australian aviation authorities lifted a 6-week flying ban on the local unit of Tiger Airways after the budget carrier agreed to new conditions including extra training for pilots.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 15, Paul "Doug" Peters, a man wanted in Australia for allegedly strapping a fake bomb to the neck of a teenage girl in a suburban Sydney home on August 3, was arrested near Louisville, Kentucky.
(Reuters, 8/16/11)
2011 Aug 17, SABMiller, one of the world's largest brewers, said it will take a $10 billion bid for rival Foster's Group Ltd. straight to the Australian company's shareholders after the board rejected its offer as too low.
(AP, 8/17/11)
2011 Aug 22, Bosses at Australia's BlueScope steel were attacked for pocketing "obscene" bonuses worth Aus$3.0 million (US$3.1 million), after they sacked 1,000 workers and abandoned their export business.
(AFP, 8/22/11)
2011 Aug 24, In eastern Australia an overnight house fire killed 11 people, including eight children, from two families in Logan City, Queensland state.
(AP, 8/24/11)
2011 Aug 31, Australia's High Court dealt a heavy blow to the government by blocking its plans to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia, ruling they could not go to a nation lacking legal safeguards.
(AFP, 8/31/11)
2011 Sep 4, In Australia a shark bit the legs off a bodyboarder, killing the man, at a popular surfing spot at Bunker Bay near the western town of Dunsborough.
(AP, 9/4/11)
2011 Sep 11, In Australia Andy Whitfield (39), who played the title role in the hit cable series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (2010), died in Sydney of lymphoma cancer.
(AP, 9/12/11)
2011 Sep 13, Australian lawmaker Nick Xenophon named Catholic priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey as having allegedly raped Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth in violent attacks dating back about 50 years.
(AFP, 9/13/11)
2011 Sep 15, Australia’s government said Australian passports will now have three gender options: male, female and indeterminate, under new guidelines to remove discrimination against transgender and intersex people.
(AP, 9/15/11)
2011 Sep 21, Australian beer giant Foster's said it has accepted an improved takeover worth Aus$9.9 billion (£6.5 billion) from British-based brewer SABMiller.
(AFP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 26, Australia opened frontline combat roles to women for the first time in its history under a new policy allowing all military positions to be filled on merit rather than gender.
(AFP, 9/27/11)
2011 Sep 27, In Australia thousands of international air travelers faced delays as Customs and Border Protection officers walked off the job at airports across the country after workers rejected a 9 percent pay rise over three years.
(AP, 9/27/11)
2011 Sep 28, In Australia popular right-wing columnist Andrew Bolt was found guilty of breaking Australian discrimination law by implying that fair-skinned Aborigines chose to identify as indigenous for profit and career advancement.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Oct 4, Apple Inc rejected an offer from Samsung Electronics Co to settle their tablet computer dispute in Australia, possibly killing off the commercial viability of the South Korean firm's new Galaxy tablet in that market.
(Reuters, 10/4/11)
2011 Oct 4, An Australian boy (14) was arrested in Indonesia for having bought 0.13 ounces (3.6 grams) of marijuana. He faced 12 years in detention under tough narcotics laws. The boy was released on Dec 4 because he admitted the purchase and repeatedly expressed remorse.
(AP, 12/4/11)
2011 Oct 6, Australian police said they have disrupted an international people smuggling ring by arresting two suspected key players in the syndicate following a 10-month undercover sting operation.
(AFP, 10/6/11)
2011 Oct 6, Australian actress Diane Cilento (78), who was once married to James Bond actor Sean Connery, died. In 1956 she was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Helen of Troy in the play "Tiger at the Gates." She received an Academy Award nomination in 1963 for best supporting actress for her work in the movie "Tom Jones."
(AP, 10/7/11)
2011 Oct 10, In Australia Bryn Martin (64) disappeared while swimming toward a buoy off Perth city's central Cottesloe Beach. Officials suspected that a shark attack killed Martin.
(AP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 22, Off southwest Australia a great white shark killed an American recreational diver in a third fatality in recent weeks.
(AP, 10/22/11)
2011 Oct 28, Commonwealth leaders agreed to drop rules that give sons precedence as heir to the throne and bar anyone in line for the crown from marrying a Roman Catholic. The agreement came on the sidelines of a Commonwealth summit presided over by the Queen in the west Australian city of Perth. Current succession rules, dating back to 1688 and 1700, were designed to ensure a Protestant monarchy, and bar anyone in line to the throne from marrying a Catholic.
(Reuters, 10/28/11)
2011 Oct 29, Australian flag carrier Qantas grounded its entire fleet indefinitely in a bitter industrial dispute. Months of strikes by baggage handlers, engineers and pilots have been costing Qantas Aus$15 million (£9.9 million) per week, with the total financial impact so far hitting Aus$68 million.
(AFP, 10/29/11)
2011 Oct 29, Commonwealth leaders meeting in Australia failed to establish a human rights watchdog for their 54-nation bloc, but insisted that progress had been made during their summit to promote democratic values.
(AFP, 10/29/11)
2011 Oct 30, In Australia the 3-day 54-nation Commonwealth summit, held once every two years, wrapped up with a joint communique. Among the forum's successes was the adoption of a measure that will coordinate global emergency relief efforts to deal with food supply crises.
(AP, 10/30/11)
2011 Oct 31, An Australian court ended the strikes and employee lockout that had abruptly grounded Qantas Airways and stranded tens of thousands of passengers worldwide. The government referred the dispute to Fair Work Australia, which ordered both sides into 21 days of talks.
(AP, 10/31/11)(Econ, 11/5/11, p.75)
2011 Nov 6, Afghan Pres. Karzai met with Australian PM Julia Gillard, who made an unannounced trip to the country. In the north 2 suicide bombers targeted worshippers on a key Muslim festival, killing seven, including two local police commanders of Old Baghlan City. A roadside bomb ripped through a police vehicle in the south, killing a district police chief and two of his bodyguards.
(AP, 11/6/11)(AFP, 11/7/11)
2011 Nov 8, Australia passed its controversial pollution tax in a sweeping and historic reform aimed at lowering carbon emissions blamed for climate change, after years of fierce debate.
(AFP, 11/8/11)
2011 Nov 8, In eastern Afghanistan up to 70 Taliban fighters were killed after trying to attack a foreign troop base in Paktika province. Mohammad Akbar, the governor of Sar Hawza district in Paktika, died in hospital after his car struck a roadside bomb in the province. A rogue Afghan soldier shot and wounded 3 Australian troops at a joint base at Charmistan, Uruzgan province. In February, 2012, a Taliban video had Mohammed Roozi talking about how he attacked Australian and Afghan soldiers at Patrol Base Nasir, saying he turned a machine gun and rocket launcher on them before going into hiding.
(AFP, 11/9/11)(AFP, 2/10/12)
2011 Nov 11, Australian police seized about 660 pounds (300 kg) of cocaine from a yacht at the northeastern coastal town of Bundaberg. Police said the yacht was crewed by Ivan Maria Ramos Valea (35) and Julia Maria Boada Fernandez (37), who were both arrested. Two other Spanish citizens, Miguel Angel Sanchez Barrocal (38) and Jose Herrero-Calvo (39) were also arrested in Bundaberg.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 12, In Australia 22 sperm whales and 2 minke whales died after getting stranded near Ocean Beach, Tasmania. Rescuers over the next 2 days saved two huge sperm whales stranded at Macquarie Harbor. Another died and a 4th remained stranded as weather worsened.
(AFP, 11/14/11)(AP, 11/15/11)
2011 Nov 16, US President Barack Obama arrived in Australia and announced a new security agreement with Australia. Obama said the US would keep sending a clear message that China needs to accept the responsibilities that come with being a world power. Obama also announced that US Marines would begin rotating through Darwin as part of the US military pivot to Asia.
(AP, 11/16/11)(SFC, 7/20/16, p.A2)
2011 Nov 17, Australian scientists exploring areas of the Indian Ocean said they had found sunken parts of the megacontinent Gondwana which could offer clues on how the current world was formed. This would hopefully shed light on how Gondwana broke into present-day Australia, Antarctica and India between 80 and 130 million years ago.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Nov 18, In Australia 4 people died as fires ravaged a nursing home in Sydney's suburban Quakers Hill neighborhood. A 5th died the next day and Nurse Roger Dean (35), who said he rescued patients from a fire, was charged with murder. On May 27, 2013 Dean pleaded guilty to murdering 11 elderly people by setting fire to their nursing home. On Aug 31, 2013, Dean was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 11/19/11)(SFC, 5/28/13, p.A2)(AP, 8/1/13)
2011 Nov 25, Australia loosened its highly charged policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat, freeing 27 from overcrowded, prison-like conditions and estimating more than 100 would be released monthly.
(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 25, Australia said it will create the world's largest marine reserve in the Coral Sea. The proposal includes seas beyond the already protected Great Barrier Reef Marine Park off northeast Australia.
(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Dec 4, Australia’s Labor party passed PM Julia Gillard's proposal with 206 votes to 185, reversing a decades-old policy excluding New Delhi from Australia's uranium trade because it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
(AFP, 12/4/11)
2011 Dec 5, In the Philippines several armed men abducted Warren Rodwell (53) of Australia from his home in the seaside town of Ipil on Mindanao island, then fled on speed boats. The kidnappers mailed four pictures of Rodwell before Christmas to his Filipino wife then called her to demand an initial ransom of $23,000 (1 million pesos). The ransom was soon raised to $2 million. Rodwell was released on March 23, 2013. On May 15, 2015, Jun Malban, a former Philippine policeman and cousin of one of the nation's top Islamic militants, was deported from Malaysia back to the Philippines for his role in the abduction.
(AFP, 12/5/11)(AP, 1/1/12)(AP, 1/5/12)(SSFC, 2/24/13, p.A3)(AFP, 5/18/15)
2011 Dec 6, Saudi Arabia sentenced an Australian man to 500 lashes and a year in jail after being found guilty of blasphemy. Reports said Mansor Almaribe (45) was detained in Medina on November 14 while making the hajj pilgrimage and accused of insulting companions of the prophet Mohammed. The father-of-five from Shepparton in Victoria state, who could not afford a lawyer, suffers from diabetes and heart disease.
(AFP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 9, Australia's highest court dismissed rival Apple's appeal in its global patent battle against South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. Samsung is now free to sell its Galaxy tablet computers in Australia.
(AP, 12/9/11)
2011 Dec 9, In Australia a senior Queensland Health executive, Hohepa Morehu-Barlow (36), also known as Joel Barlow, was being hunted after Aus$16 million (US$16 million) went missing from the government department. He was arrested at his own apartment Dec 12 after three days on the run from police following the discovery of his alleged theft.
(AFP, 12/9/11)(AP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 12, Senior Australian naval officer Lieutenant Commander John Alan Jones (58) was convicted by a court martial of repeatedly spanking a junior female sailor to test her discipline and obedience.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 15, Australia’s independent Remuneration Tribunal recommended pay hikes for most politicians and public servants. PM Julia Gillard was recommended for a bumper 31 percent rise to take her salary past that of US President Barack Obama.
(AFP, 12/15/11)
2011 Dec 19, Members of an Australian class action lawsuit, who blame a German pharmaceutical company's anti-morning sickness drug, Thalidomide, for causing birth defects, won the right to have their case heard in their own country. The class action against Grunenthal is open to Australians born between Jan. 1, 1958, and Dec. 31, 1970, who were injured after their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant.
(AP, 12/19/11)
2011 Dec 19, Belarus police arrested dozens of regime opponents who tried to stage a banned vigil in Minsk. Australian filmmaker Kitty Green (27) was detained while covering a topless protest outside the offices of the Belarussian KGB security services to mark Lukashenko's disputed re-election a year ago. Three members of the radical Femen group were also seized by KGB security agents who forced them to strip naked in a forest and threatened to torch them.
(AFP, 12/20/11)
2012 Jan 8, The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said three Australian activists were being held as "prisoners" by the Japanese harpoon fleet after sneaking aboard one of their vessels overnight to protest. The activists were transferred to an Australian customs vessel on Jan 13.
(AFP, 1/8/12)(AP, 1/13/12)
2012 Jan 12, The Australian military was rocked by more sex scandals, including allegations of assault, child porn, rape and drug-dealing within its ranks.
(AFP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 13, Japanese energy firm Inpex and French giant Total announced a huge $34 billion gas project in Australia, as Tokyo looks for alternatives to nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
(AFP, 1/13/12)
2012 Jan 24, Flooding in northeastern Australia caused thousands of homes to lose power and prompted authorities to start evacuations, around a year after deadly floods devastated the region.
(AFP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 26, Two Australian adventurers reached home and made Antarctic history by becoming the first team to travel unaided to the South Pole and back, surviving three months of "extreme hardship." James Castrission (29) an accountant, and Justin Jones (28), a scientist, skied 2,270 km (1,400 miles) to complete the arduous trek. The pair reached had the Pole on December 31.
(AFP, 1/26/12)
2012 Feb 1, Some 24,000 Australian ducks were being destroyed after testing positive for a low pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus, an outbreak which has prompted poultry export bans in parts of Asia.
(AFP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 3, Major flooding hit parts of Australia's east, stranding thousands of residents, prompting a military airlift and leaving some communities only accessible by helicopter.
(AFP, 2/3/12)
2012 Feb 4, In Australia celebrated filmmakers Andrew Wight (52) and Mike deGruy (60) died in a helicopter crash at Jasper's Brush. They were working on a documentary with Oscar-winning director James Cameron and National Geographic.
(AFP, 2/5/12)
2012 Feb 7, Australia imposed new travel bans and financial sanctions on Syrian leaders on as it stepped up actions to force an end to violence against Syria's civilian population.
(Reuters, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 15, In Australia some 3,500 workers from mining giant BHP Billiton's Queensland coal mines began a seven-day strike in what unions said was one of the nation's largest industrial stoppages in a decade.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 17, Budget carrier Air Australia collapsed, stranding thousands of passengers as its domestic flights and international services to Honolulu, Bali and Phuket were all grounded.
(AFP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 22, Australia's foreign minister Kevin Rudd resigned, saying he was unable to continue without PM Julia Gillard's support, paving the way for him to make a leadership challenge.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 22, Mining giant Rio Tinto said it has unearthed a "remarkable" 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, the largest of the rare and precious stones ever found in the resources-rich nation.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 29, A five-count indictment was returned in Washington accusing Australian David Levick of knowingly skirting a federal trade embargo with Iran and plotting to export the technology without the required authorization. Prosecutors said Levick and his company, ICM Components, Inc., ordered materials on behalf of an unnamed representative of an Iranian trade company. The export scheme spanned about two years starting around March 2007.
(AP, 3/1/12)
2012 Mar 1, In Malaysia Dominic Jude Christopher Bird (32), a truck driver Perth, Western Australia, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur in possession of 225 grams (7.9 ounces) of methamphetamine. He faced a possible death sentence.
(AFP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 3, Thousands of Australians were ordered to evacuate their homes in Sydney's northwest and elsewhere in New South Wales state as heavy rainfall flooded rivers and waterways.
(AFP, 3/3/12)
2012 Mar 5, In Australia New South Wales officials said Muslim women will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving state officials authority to look under religious and other face coverings.
(AP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 19, Australia’s parliament passed a mining tax on profits from coal and iron ore.
(Econ, 3/24/12, p.41)
2012 Mar 20, In northern Australia a devastating "mini-tornado" tore through the city of Townsville, ripping roofs off houses, snapping trees in half and injuring 13 people.
(AP, 3/20/12)
2012 Mar 21, Australian zoo officials said 4 rare white rhinoceroses have died in recent weeks at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales after displaying mysterious neurological problems such as stumbling.
(AP, 3/21/12)
2012 Mar 22, Australia police captured Malcolm Naden (38) just after midnight at a remote house near the town of Gloucester. The former slaughterhouse worker has been charged with the 2005 strangling death of a cousin and other violent crimes.
(AP, 3/22/12)
2012 Mar 23, Australian police said they have smashed a child porn ring and arrested 14 men, including fathers, after hundreds of thousands of images and videos were seized, some depicting toddlers. Police raided more than a dozen properties across the country over the past week after a tip-off by Interpol, which linked the men to a child exploitation network in Germany.
(AFP, 3/23/12)
2012 Mar 28, Fiji's military regime said it had seized control of national carrier Air Pacific from Australia's Qantas because it did not want foreigners to own or control Fijian airlines.
(AFP, 3/28/12)
2012 Mar 30, Australian artist Tim Storrier won the 91st Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney for his painting “The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch)." The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious art prizes.
(AFP, 3/30/12)
2012 Mar 31, Millions of people switched off their lights for Earth Hour in a global effort to raise awareness about climate change that will even be monitored from space. Newcomers to the Sydney-led initiative, now in its sixth year, included Libya, Iraq and the International Space Station, which will watch over the event as it rolls across the globe.
(AFP, 3/31/12)
2012 Mar 31, In southwestern Australia a shark attack killed Peter Kurmann (33) as he was diving from a boat off Stratham Beach.
(SSFC, 4/1/12, p.A4)
2012 Apr 3, An Australian court found Google Inc. guilty of breaching trade law by posting misleading or deceptive advertisements in a ruling that holds search engines responsible for their advertisers' content.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 13, Australia's Qantas launched the nation's first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel. Australia's tax on carbon emissions comes into force on July 1.
(AFP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 16, Australia said it will lift sanctions against Myanmar's president and more than 200 others who are currently under travel and financial bans, after a series of reforms in the past year.
(AFP, 4/16/12)
2012 Apr 17, Australia said it will bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013 after significant security gains over the past 18 months.
(AFP, 4/17/12)
2012 Apr 19, Australia vowed in an apparent U-turn to keep combat troops in Afghanistan through 2014 after PM Julia Gillard had indicated they would come home earlier than planned.
(AFP, 4/19/12)
2012 Apr 21, In Australia 2 Aboriginal teenagers were shot by police in central Sydney after mounting a crowded footpath in a stolen car and hitting a bystander.
(AFP, 4/21/12)
2012 Apr 27, In Australia Clarence Marae, the private secretary of Vanuatu’s PM Kilman, was arrested at Sydney airport while traveling with PM Kilman, en route to Israel for a state visit. The arrest was linked to an alleged international tax scam.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 4, Australian Police hunted for a gang of Sydney street robbers who threw feces at their victims to distract them before grabbing their money.
(AFP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 8, Australia's government said it will rein in defense spending and scale back promised increases in foreign aid as it tries to become the first major developed economy to balance its books after the global economic crisis.
(AP, 5/8/12)
2012 May 9, In Australia 27 protected Little Penguins were found mauled in the Phillip Island Nature Park in Victoria state, a popular tourist attraction. The penguins were believed killed by a dog or a pack of dogs, ironically at Cat Bay.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 10, Vanuatu expelled the 12-member police contingent from Australia in retaliation for the April 27 arrest of PM Kilman’s private secretary while in transit to Israel.
(Econ, 5/19/12, p.49)
2012 May 17, Japan and Australia signed an agreement in Tokyo that will allow them to share intelligence as the Asia-Pacific region adapts to the rising power of China.
(AFP, 5/17/12)
2012 May 23, The annual index by Business Review Weekly said Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart (58), has eclipsed Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton to become the world's wealthiest woman. The index put the mining tycoon's personal fortune at Aus$29.17 billion (US$28.48 billion).
(AFP, 5/23/12)
2012 May 25, A long-running joust to host a radio telescope, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), that would give mankind its farthest peek into the Universe, ended with a Solomon-like judgement to split the $2 billion project between two groups, Australia and New Zealand and South Africa.
(AFP, 5/25/12)(Econ, 6/2/12, p.94)(Econ, 1/7/17, p.38)
2012 May 31, In southern Australia a truck carrying around 400 sheep overturned on a highway overpass outside Melbourne, causing the animals to rain onto the freeway below resulting in "a large number" of dead and injured sheep.
(AP, 6/1/12)
2012 Jun 1, Australian researchers reported that eating a block of dark chocolate daily over 10 years has "significant" benefits for high-risk cardiac patients and could prevent heart attacks and strokes.
(AFP, 6/1/12)
2012 Jun 5, Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for a second consecutive month as Europe's economy weakens and growth in China moderates. It lowered the rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.5 percent.
(AP, 6/5/12)
2012 Jun 7, Australia said it will lift remaining sanctions against Myanmar and more than double its foreign aid to encourage democratic reforms.
(AFP, 6/7/12)
2012 Jun 7, Australian police said Captain Emad, an alleged people-smuggling kingpin who was granted a refugee visa, fled the country this week after a television expose, and they were powerless to stop him.
(AFP, 6/7/12)
2012 Jun 14, Australia announced a 2.3 million-square-km marine preserve expansion creating the world's largest network of marine reserves which will restrict fishing as well as oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food.
(AP, 6/14/12)
2012 Jun 15, In Australia documents were released revealing "horrific" child sex assaults and brutal initiation ceremonies in the Australian military, prompting PM Julia Gillard to signal a possible public inquiry. The report details allegations of sexual and other serious physical assaults against boys as young as 13 dating back to the 1950s.
(AFP, 6/15/12)
2012 Jun 18, Australia archaeologist Bryce Barker said he has found the oldest piece of rock art in Australia and one of the oldest in the world: an Aboriginal work created 28,000 years ago in the Northern Territory rock shelter known as Nawarla Gabarnmang.
(AP, 6/18/12)
2012 Jun 20, In Australia a Sydney brothel was reported to have received the green light for a multi-million-dollar expansion which will see it become the nation’s largest sex premises. Stiletto’s hourly rate of Aus$370 includes room, lady of choice and beverages.
(AFP, 6/20/12)
2012 Jun 20, In Thailand Michelle Elizabeth Smith (60), an Australian tourist, was stabbed and killed as 2 men tried to steal her bag on the resort island of Phuket. Two Thai men were arrested and pleaded guilty on June 26, saying they meant only to slash her pocketbook strap and never meant to stab her.
(AFP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 21, Indonesian and Australian navies launched efforts to rescue survivors after a Sri Lanka refugee boat carrying about 200 people, mostly men from Afghanistan, capsized on its way to Christmas Island. Scores were feared drowned in an apparent attempt to seek asylum. 110 people were rescued and about 90 remained missing. On Jan 28 an Indonesian court sentenced Javaid Mahmood (55), a Pakistani man, for attempting to smuggle the asylum seekers. He was the 2nd man found guilty in the case.
(AFP, 6/21/12)(AFP, 6/22/12)(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A2)
2012 Jun 27, Four people are believed to have died and 130 others were rescued after a crowded boat carrying asylum seekers to Australia capsized and sank between Christmas Island and the main Indonesian island of Java.
(AP, 6/27/12)
2012 Jul 1, Australia introduced a controversial carbon tax in a bid to tackle climate change, with PM Julia Gillard hailing the move amid opposition warnings it will stifle industry. A mining levy was also introduced.
(AFP, 7/1/12)(Econ, 7/7/12, p.18)
2012 Jul 2, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Australia as a political storm over people-smuggling raged.
(AFP, 7/2/12)
2012 Jul 3, Australia and Indonesia agreed to work more closely to crack down on people-smuggling, with visiting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying his people were victims of the trade as well.
(AFP, 7/3/12)
2012 Jul 10, A damning report on the Australian military detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial and other claims that Defence Minister Stephen Smith admitted would "shock" people. Smith released an entire 1,500-page document detailing 847 alleged incidents of sexual or other abuse dating back to the 1950s.
(AFP, 7/10/12)
2012 Jul 14, In western Australia a surfer was bitten in half in a savage shark attack near Wedge Island, north of Perth, the fifth such fatality in the region in less than a year.
(AFP, 7/14/12)
2012 Jul 18, An Australian woman born without arms and legs after her pregnant mother took the anti-morning sickness drug Thalidomide reached a multimillion dollar settlement with UK-based Distillers Company (Biochemicals) Ltd. — which sold the drug in Australia — and Diageo Scotland Ltd., the successor company to Distillers. Grunenthal, the German maker of the drug, refused to settle.
(AFP, 7/18/12)
2012 Jul 18, In Alaska 2 visitors from Australia were killed in a fiery small plane crash about 39 miles north of Fairbanks.
(Reuters, 7/19/12)
2012 Jul 19, In Australia a Chinese national (54) and an Australian man (47) were arrested when drugs worth Aus$128 million (US$133 million) were seized in Sydney. The bust disrupted an international syndicate dealing in methamphetamines.
(AFP, 7/20/12)
2012 Jul 28, Australian media reported that Sri Lankan navy officials have urged Australia to deport the growing number of boatpeople arriving from their country, saying it was the "best way" to deter people smugglers.
(AFP, 7/28/12)
2012 Jul 31, Australian police seized a record half a ton of methamphetamine and heroin worth up to A$500 million ($525 million) hidden in a shipment of terracotta pots from Thailand. Seven people, including four from Hong Kong, were arrested after a year-long investigation following a tip-off from US authorities.
(Reuters, 7/31/12)
2012 Aug 1, The United Arab Emirates said it has signed and Australia have signed a pact with Australia to work together on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, laying the groundwork for potential shipments of uranium to the Gulf nation.
(AP, 8/1/12)
2012 Aug 3, In Australia Tasmania Zoo owner Dick Warren said 9 birds, including an endangered swift parrot, had their heads smashed in or ripped off and more than 60 animals were missing after vandals went on the rampage.
(AFP, 8/4/12)
2012 Aug 13, Australia's PM Gillard announced a sharp reversal in her government's policy on asylum seekers, saying it will introduce legislation allowing their deportation to the poor Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru to face lengthy stays in detention camps.
(AFP, 8/13/12)
2012 Aug 15, Australia highest court upheld the world's toughest law on cigarette promotion, which prohibits tobacco companies from displaying their logos on cigarette packs. Starting in December, packs will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature graphic health warnings and images of cancer-riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 15, In Australia Charles Zentai (90) won a legal battle against extradition to Hungary, in a move which allows him to stay in Australia, where he has citizenship.
(AFP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 15, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that car importer Ateco Automotive ordered dealers to stop selling certain vehicles by China’s Great Wall Motor Co. and Chery Automobile after asbestos was found inside engine and exhaust gaskets.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 17, Australian police said they were investigating the theft of some 500,000 credit card numbers which resulted in Aus$25 million (US$26.2 million) worth of fraudulent transactions.
(AFP, 8/17/12)
2012 Aug 23, In Switzerland the Green Climate Fund, which aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries, selected as leaders Zaheer Fakir, head of international relations for South Africa's environment agency, and Ewen McDonald, deputy head of Australia's international development agency.
(AP, 8/23/12)
2012 Aug 29, An asylum-seeker boat heading for Australia disappeared off the Indonesian coast with 150 people aboard. Over the next 24 hours rescuers recovered 54 survivors, mostly males from Afghanistan.
(AFP, 8/30/12)(AFP, 8/31/12)
2012 Sep 11, Australia’s federal sustainability minister announced a ban on the Abel Tasman, a huge Dutch fishing vessel, from trawling in Australia’s waters. On Sep 19 the Labor government banned the ship for 2 years.
(Economist, 9/22/12, p.48)
2012 Sep 22, In Australia Jill Meagher (29) was raped and strangled as she walked home from a bar after an evening out with work colleagues in Melbourne. On Jun 19, 2013, sex offender Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder. He had been free on parole after previous convictions for raping five women.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2012 Oct 1, An Australian study found that the Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its coral cover since 1985.
(SFC, 10/2/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 2, Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced that Australia will spend over $104 million over the next four years to help reduce deaths from malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.
(SFC, 11/3/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 9, The Australian government said it has abandoned its 5-year-old pledge to mandate a filter blocking child pornography and other objectionable Internet content. Instead service providers have agreed to block a list of 1,400 websites.
(SFC, 11/9/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 14, Australia announced that it will host two US space surveillance systems as part of closer military ties agreed at a bilateral security summit.
(AP, 11/14/12)
2012 Nov 15, World animal health body OIE said that Australia had reported a case of a highly pathogenic bird flu virus at an egg farm in the New South Wales region.
(AP, 11/15/12)
2012 Dec 1, Australia’s new plain packaging law for cigarettes went into effect.
(Econ, 11/17/12, p.60)
2012 Dec 10, Australian radio announcers Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a Dec 4 prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate, broke a three-day silence to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha. Saldanha (46) was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Dec 7 after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.
(Reuters, 12/10/12)
2012 Australia’s Aborigines, numbering about 500,000, comprised about 2.5% of the country’s 23 million population.
(Econ, 1/14/12, p.42)
2012 In Australia 28 Tasmanian devils were relocated to Maria Island off Tasmania in an effort to save the carnivorous marsupial from extinction due to a deadly mouth cancer. By 2021 the population had grown to 100 and wiped out native penguins and other seabirds on the island.
(SSFC, 6/26/21, p.B8)
2013 Jan 3, Australian astronomers discovered a comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring). Scientists said it will pass about 50km from Mars on October 19, 2014. On Oct 19 the comet’s closest approach to Mars was about 140,000 km.
(Econ, 3/9/13, p.80)(Econ, 10/25/14, p.82)
2013 Jan 7, In Australia officials searched for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the island state of Tasmania. Around 100 residents remained unaccounted for, three days after the fires broke out.
(AP, 1/7/13)
2013 Jan 9, In Australia Richard Ammar Chichakli, a Syrian-born American, was arrested on charges that he conspired with Viktor Bout and others to try to buy aircraft from two companies in the United States.
(AP, 1/10/13)
2013 Jan 9, British health officials said a new strain of the winter vomiting disease norovirus has spread to France, New Zealand and Japan from Australia and is overtaking all others to become the dominant local strain.
(Reuters, 1/9/13)
2013 Jan 18, The British defence ministry said Britain and Australia will increase ties on defence issues including cyber security and equipment programs such as the BAE Systems-built Type 26 frigate.
(AP, 1/18/13)
2013 Jan 28, Australia reported 4 deaths as torrential rain over the weekend flooded the Queensland towns of Gladstone, Gympie and Ipswich.
(AP, 1/28/13)(AP, 1/29/13)
2013 Jan 31, Australia’s government received confirmation that the Shonan Maru No. 2, a support vessel for the Japanese whaling fleet, had entered Australia's exclusive economic zone near Macquarie Island in the Antarctic Ocean. The Australian embassy in Tokyo protested to the Japanese government.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013 Jan, Australia’s heat wave set a new reocrd of 40.3° C for the highest national average temperature.
(Econ, 1/12/13, p.34)
2013 Feb 7, An Australian government report said doping was widespread among professional and amateur athletes and demanded investigators name offenders to protect clean athletes' reputations.
(Reuters, 2/8/13)
2013 Feb 27, Australia's highest court narrowly rejected the case of two Muslim activists who argued they had a constitutional free-speech right to send offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
(AP, 2/27/13)
2013 Mar 14, In Australia Adam Giles was sworn as government head of the Northern Territory becoming the first Aboriginal leader of a provincial government.
(AP, 3/14/13)
2013 Mar 18, In Australia visiting Myanmar President Thein Sein welcomed closer ties with Australia as he asked for continued support through his country's transition to "peace, democracy and prosperity," a mission that he said "has no parallel in modern times."
(AP, 3/18/13)
2013 Mar 21, Australian PM Julia Gillard delivered a historic national apology in Parliament to the thousands of unwed mothers who were forced by government policies to give up their babies for adoption over several decades.
(AP, 3/21/13)
2013 Mar 25, A fishing boat carrying nearly 100 asylum seekers capsized off Australia's west coast. 2 people died and another 93 were rescued after the boat overturned north of Christmas Island.
(Reuters, 3/25/13)
2013 Apr 8, Australia and China agreed to make their currencies directly exchangeable in a deal that advances internationalization of the yuan and reduces costs for companies. PM Julia Gilliard said the Australian dollar will become only the third major currency to have direct convertibility with the yuan, after the US dollar and Japanese yen.
(AP, 4/8/13)
2013 Apr 9, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard capped a 6-day trip to China with the formation of a “strategic partnershnip," a commitment to hold annual talks between their leaders.
(Econ, 4/20/13, p.44)
2013 Apr 15, Australian and British researchers reported that the summer ice melt in parts of Antarctica is at its highest level in 1,000 years, adding new evidence of the impact of global warming on sensitive Antarctic glaciers and ice shelves.
(Reuters, 4/15/13)
2013 Apr 23, Australian police arrested a man they say is affiliated with international hacking collective Lulz Security on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website.
(AP, 4/23/13)
2013 Apr 23, Australia's competition regulator approved the takeover by Virgin Australia of budget rival Tiger Airways Australia.
(AP, 4/23/13)
2013 Apr 26, In Australia billionaire Clive Palmer announced the formation of the United Australia Party to back his move to run for prime minister.
(SSFC, 4/28/13, p.A5)
2013 Apr 27, In Indonesia an Australia woman (28) was attacked and raped while vacationing with her family near Bali’s popular Kuta beach. Her assailant also stole stole three iPads, two cellphones and $154 in cash.
(AP, 4/29/13)
2013 May 3, Australia announced a significant boost to its military air power, committing to buy up to new 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as it shifts its focus back to the Indo-Pacific as China and India beef up forces.
(Reuters, 5/3/13)
2013 May 8, Two Australian citizens from New South Wales state fell from the mid deck of the Carnival Spirit. They were discovered missing the next morning after the ship docked at Sydney's Circular Quay.
(AP, 5/9/13)
2013 May 9, It was reported that 460 Vietnamese men, women and children have fled to Australian shores so far this year.
(AP, 5/9/13)
2013 May 21, Microsoft Corp. said it is expanding its services for hosting and processing online data in Australia with the establishment of two new "cloud" computing data centers in the country.
(Reuters, 5/21/13)
2013 May 27, Australian Broadcasting Corp. television reported that the plans for the 630 million Australian dollar ($608 million) Australian Security Intelligence Organization building had been stolen through a cyberattack by Chinese hackers on a building contractor.
(AP, 5/28/13)
2013 May, In Vietnam Pham Trung Dung, an Australian of Vietnamese origin, was arrested when customs officials reportedly found the heroin in his luggage as he was boarding a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia. On June 27, 2014, Dung was sentenced to death for possessing more than 4 kg (8.8 pounds) of heroin.
(AP, 6/27/14)
2013 Jun 8, Australian authorities said a boat carrying up to 60 asylum seekers has capsized in the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island. 13 bodies were so far recovered with no survivors.
(SSFC, 6/9/13, p.A6)
2013 Jun 19, In Australia serial sex offender Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) was sentenced to life in prison for raping and murdering an Irish woman while he was free on parole after previous convictions for raping five women.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2013 Jun 26, Australian PM Julia Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader by her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, in a 57-45 vote of party lawmakers hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 27, Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown.
(AP, 6/27/13)
2013 Jul 16, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd said a deeply unpopular carbon tax will be replaced by a less-severe emissions trading scheme a year ahead of schedule, in a bid to lower power bills for households as a tight national election looms.
(AP, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 16, In rough seas north of Christmas Island a boat carrying 150 people believed to be asylum seekers capsized, killing four people.
(AP, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 19, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd, with PNG PM Peter O’Neill at his side, warned that all refugees who arrive in the country by boat will be resettled on the island nation of Papua New Guinea, a policy shift that rights groups immediately condemned.
(AP, 7/19/13)(Econ, 7/27/13, p.34)
2013 Jul 22, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd succeeded in changing the ruling party's regulations to make his job safer.
(AP, 7/22/13)
2013 Jul 23, The US Navy offered Australia any help it wanted to retrieve four bombs, mistakenly dropped on July 16 inside the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef marine park.
(Reuters, 7/23/13)(SFC, 7/23/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd and the President of Nauru, Baron Waqa, signed a memorandum of understanding providing for asylum seekers arriving by boat to be sent to Nauru where they can opt for resettlement after their claims for refugee status are processed.
(Reuters, 8/3/13)
2013 Aug 9, Christopher Lane (22) of Melbourne, Australia, was shot once in the back as he was jogging in Duncan, Okla. He died before paramedics arrived. On Aug 20 prosecutors charged two boys, Chancey Allen Luna (16) and James Francis Edwards Jr. (15), with first-degree murder. A third boy, Michael Dewayne Jones (17), was charged as an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact. The boys said they were bored and decided to shoot someone.
(Yahoo, 8/21/13)(AP, 2/4/14)
2013 Aug 22, The UN said Australia’s indefinite detention of 46 recognized refugees amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Many have been held as security threats for over two years.
(SFC, 8/23/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 7, Australia's conservative opposition swept to power, ending six years of Labor Party rule and winning over a disenchanted public by promising to end a hated tax on carbon emissions, boost a flagging economy and bring about political stability after years of Labor infighting. Opposition leader Tony Abbott (55) will become PM in three months.
(AP, 9/7/13)
2013 Sep 13, Australian man Tom Denniss (52) completed a grueling run that looped the world, having done the equivalent of a marathon a day for more than 20 months in what he hopes is a record. Denniss began his endurance test on December 31, 2011 at the Sydney Opera House and since then has travelled more than 26,000 km (16,200 miles) over five continents.
(AFP, 9/13/13)
2013 Oct 10, More than 700 Australian police swooped on the Hells Angels in a series of heavily-armed raids, seizing guns, drugs and cash, as authorities intensify a crackdown on biker gangs linked to organized crime.
(AFP, 10/10/13)
2013 Oct 14, Australia’s Rio Tinto said the annual sale of its rare pink-hued diamonds attracted unprecedented interest with at least two of the stones fetching record prices of over $2 million.
(AFP, 10/14/13)
2013 Oct 15, Mining magnate Andrew Forrest pledged to give 65 million Australian dollars ($62 million) to university education in his home state in one of Australia's largest philanthropic donations.
(AP, 10/15/13)
2013 Oct 18, In Australia nearly 100 wildfires raged across New South Wales state, killing one person, destroying dozens of houses and forcing hundreds of evacuations as the nation's annual fire season got off to an unusually early start.
(AP, 10/18/13)
2013 Oct 15, An Australian naval team in the Indian Ocean captured nine suspected pirates sought after attacks on a supertanker 500 miles off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 10/20/13)
2013 Oct 22, The Australian Capital Territory became the first jurisdiction in Australia to legalize same-sex marriage with a bill passing the ACT parliament by just one vote.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 23, Australian investigators said a military training exercise ignited the largest of the wildfires that have ravaged its most populous state over the past week.
(AP, 10/23/13)
2013 Oct 24, In Australia a plane dousing wildfires in bushland south of Australia's biggest city, Sydney, crashed into a national park, killing the pilot and sparking a new fire to add to 55 still burning across the state of New South Wales.
(Reuters, 10/24/13)
2013 Nov 2, Jacqui Park, an Australian media rights activist, accused Sri Lankan officials of a "witch-hunt" against local journalists as she arrived back in Sydney after being detained in Colombo for two days.
(AFP, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 1, In Tasmania int’l. negotiations ended after China, Russia and Ukraine scuttled plans to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary in Antarctica. The sanctuary plans were led by the Antarctic Ocean Alliance which campaigns for protecting the Antarctic seas. For the sanctuary proposals to pass, they needed backing from all 200 delegates from 25 member countries, many of which have conflicting interests.
(Reuters, 11/1/13)(SFC, 11/2/13, p.A2)
2013 Nov 3, Hackers claiming links to international activist group Anonymous (Anonymous Indonesia and Anonymous Philippines) defaced dozens of websites belonging to Australian businesses and Philippine government agencies.
(Reuters, 11/3/13)
2013 Nov 13, Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd announced an end to his chequered political career, quitting politics two months after being ousted from office by Tony Abbott.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 15, Toronto police said a global investigation into a Canadian child porn website has led to the arrest of 341 people including teachers, doctors and police officers, and the rescue of 386 sexually abused children. Australian police said they had arrested 65 of the total.
(AFP, 11/15/13)
2013 Nov 21, Indonesia's military halted training with Australia as a decision to suspend cooperation due to spying claims took effect, while angry demonstrators in Jakarta declared they were "ready for war" with Canberra.
(AFP, 11/21/13)
2013 Nov 23, In Australia a surfer was fatally mauled by a shark on the west coast near Gracetown.
(SSFC, 11/24/13, p.A4)
2013 Nov 27, In Australia Simon Gittany was found guilty of throwing his Canadian girlfriend, former ballerina Lisa Harnum, off the balcony of their high-rise Sydney apartment.
(AFP, 11/27/13)
2013 Nov 30, In Australia a shark attack killed Zach Young (19) as he body boarded near the northern New South Wales city of Coffs Harbor in the nation's second deadly attack this month.
(AP, 11/30/13)
2013 Dec 1, Two Australian scientists and their pilot were injured when their helicopter made an emergency landing in Antarctica, leaving them stranded overnight on the ice.
(Reuters, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 2, In Australia a class action over birth defects linked to the morning sickness drug thalidomide was settled in a court, with the British distributor agreeing to pay victims Aus$89 million (US$81 million).
(AFP, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 3, Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it has completed building the hull of the world's largest floating facility, which has been constructed to process natural gas off the coast of western Australia.
(AP, 12/3/13)
2013 Dec 5, Australia and Indonesia announced that they would set up a hotline as part of efforts to repair relations following media reports last month that Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials.
(Reuters, 12/5/13)
2013 Dec 7, Australia's first gay marriages were celebrated in the national capital Canberra, despite the prospect of a High Court decision ruling against the unions later this week.
(AFP, 12/7/13)
2013 Dec 12, Australia's top court struck down gay marriage in the nation's capital, ruling that parliament must decide on same-sex unions.
(AFP, 12/12/13)
2013 Dec 16, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said Australian combat troops have completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking the end of the nation's longest war which left 40 of its soldiers dead.
(AFP, 12/16/13)
2013 Dec 22, Australia announced an aerial Customs and Border Protection mission to the Southern Ocean as a showdown looms between Japan's whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd activists, saying it would send a message to both sides that the world was watching.
(AFP, 12/22/13)
2013 Dec 28, Australian media reported that Jacqueline Zwambila, Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia, has asked for political asylum just days before her term ends saying she fears for her safety at home.
(Reuters, 12/28/13)
2013 Dec 31, A cyclone ripped across northwest Australia, closing ports and threatening mining operations in the sparsely populated Pilbara region.
(Reuters, 12/31/13)
2014 Jan 2, A Chinese helicopter rescued all 52 passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy Russian research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve after weather conditions finally cleared enough for the operation. The passengers were all transported to an Australian icebreaker in the area.
(AP, 1/2/14)
2014 Jan 9, In northwest Australia the temperature in the Pilbara region reached 122 degrees.
(SFC, 1/10/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 11, In Australia US stage hypnotist Scott Lewis plunged to his death from the balcony of a Sydney apartment. Lewis was in Sydney performing his hypnosis act along with six other performers in the show "The illusionists 2.0," which opened at the Sydney Opera House last week.
(AP, 1/11/14)
2014 Jan 13, Australian officials said one man died a day earlier and four other people were missing after a fast-moving wildfire destroyed at least 49 homes in Perth. Firefighters continued to fight the blaze.
(AFP, 1/13/14)(SFC, 1/14/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 15, Australian officials said lightning strikes ignited more than 250 fires across the southeast. Firefighters battled to put out the flames as the country sweltered under a heatwave.
(AFP, 1/15/14)
2014 Jan 16, British police working alongside counterparts in the Philippines and Australia said they had dismantled a paedophile ring that streamed live sexual abuse of Filipino children as young as six over the Internet, with victims' parents involved in some cases.
(AFP, 1/16/14)
2014 Jan 17, Indonesia said that it would increase naval patrols after territorial violations by Australia as it tried to turn back asylum seekers. The Australian government apologised unreservedly to Jakarta after its navy "inadvertently" violated Indonesian waters during border security operations.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 23, Australian police revealed they had cracked a major global money-laundering ring with operatives in more than 20 countries and funds syphoned off to groups reported to include Hezbollah.
(AFP, 1/23/14)
2014 Jan 26, In northern Australia a crocodile was suspected to have taken a boy (12) after attacking his friend as they swam in a water hole in at Mudginberri Billabong in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 26, A shark was shot and killed in Western Australian under a new strategy to protect swimmers.
(Econ, 2/1/14, p.35)
2014 Jan 31, In Australia a government agency approved a plan to dump sediment within the area of the Great Barrier Marine Park in an expansion project of the Abbot Point coal port in northern Queensland.
(SFC, 2/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 3, St. Louis-based Post Holdings Inc. said it is buying the PowerBar and Musashi brands from Nestle SA, further diversifying its business by expanding into the active nutrition category. Musashi is a leading sports nutrition brand in Australia.
(AP, 2/3/14)
2014 Feb 16, In North Korea John Short (75), an Australian missionary, was questioned and then arrested in his Pyongyang hotel, a day after he arrived there. He has lived in Hong Kong for 50 years and has been arrested previously in China for evangelizing.
(AP, 2/20/14)
2014 Feb 23, In Sidney, Australia, finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies (G-20) agreed to implement policies that will boost world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the coming five years.
(AP, 2/23/14)
2014 Mar 3, The United Nations' highest court banned Australia from making any use of documents it seized from a lawyer working for East Timor in an arbitration case over a multibillion-dollar oil and gas deal between the two nations.
(AP, 3/3/14)
2014 Mar 19, Australia’s Courier Mail reported that Canar Temel (22), a soldier who went AWOL from his Brisbane unit two years ago, has turned up dead after fighting alongside ISIL rebels in Syria.
(SSFC, 3/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Mar 22, In eastern Australia 5 people were killed after a light plane used for skydiving crashed at an airfield in Queensland.
(AFP, 3/22/14)
2014 Mar 28, Australian officials moved the search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, that disappeared March 8, 1,100 km (680 miles) to the northeast following a new analysis of radar data, and planes quickly found multiple objects in the new zone.
(AP, 3/28/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Australia a large shark killed Christine Armstrong (63) near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim off a popular east coast beach near the village of Tathra.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 6, The Australian navy ship Ocean Shield picked up two separate signals late last night and early today in seas far off the west Australian coast. Confirmation that the signals belong to Malaysia’s Flight 370's black boxes could take days.
(AP, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 7, Japan and Australia clinched a basic trade deal to cut import tariffs. US and Japanese officials stepped up efforts to reach a parallel agreement that would re-energize stalled talks on a broader regional pact.
(Reuters, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 11, Australian PM Tony Abbott said search and rescue officials are confident they know the approximate position of the black box recorders from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, missing since March 8.
(Reuters, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 14, Australian search crews sent a robotic submarine deep into the Indian Ocean for the first time to begin scouring the seabed for the missing Malaysian Flight MH370 after no signals from its black boxes were detected for six days. The submarine aborted its first mission after only six hours, surfacing with no new clues when it exceeded its maximum depth along the floor of the Indian Ocean.
(AP, 4/14/14)(AP, 4/15/14)
2014 May 31, Australia said that it has banned Thailand's coup leaders from visiting and downgraded their military ties.
(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 31, Some flights between Australia and southeast Asia and all domestic flights operating out of Darwin airport in the country’s north were canceled after the eruption a day earlier of Sangeang Api in Indonesia’s south produced a large cloud of ash.
(Reuters, 5/31/14)
2014 May, Scientists reported that a zircon crystal discovered in Western Australia in 2010 has been determined to be 4.374 billion years old, making it the oldest rock ever discovered on Earth.
(SSFC, 1/4/15, p.C12)
2014 Jun 5, Kenyan gunmen shot and killed an Australian media executive Carey Eaton, a co-founder of the online marketplace One Africa Media. This was the second such attack on an Australian citizen in the past year in the crime-ridden capital Nairobi.
(AFP, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 8, Australian police found human remains inside a large crocodile that is believed to have snatched a man from a boat in a popular national park. Police found the remains inside a 4.7-meter (15-foot, 5-inch) saltwater crocodile that park rangers shot while searching for a 62-year-old man who was attacked a day earlier in Kakadu National Park.
(AP, 6/8/14)
2014 Jun 11, Japanese and Australian ministers meeting in Tokyo agreed to jointly develop stealth submarine technology. They agreed to begin the research next year.
(AP, 6/11/14)
2014 Jun 29, Australia seized 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers near Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
(Econ, 7/26/14, p.36)
2014 Jun 30, Australia’s Catholic church said Bishop Max Davis has stepped down after being accused of sexually abusing a teenage student decades ago. Davis denied the charges.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 5, In Australia six Taiwanese men were arrested for importing Aus$42 million ($39 million) worth of methamphetamine into Australia. They faced life sentences.
(AFP, 7/6/14)
2014 Jul 7, Australia's government confirmed that it had handed over a boatload of asylum seekers to Sri Lankan authorities in a transfer at sea, drawing outrage from human rights groups who fear those on board could be persecuted in their home country.
(AP, 7/7/14)
2014 Jul 8, In Australia Japan's PM Shinzo Abe met with Australian PM Tony Abbott to sign agreements bolstering defense and trade ties between the countries.
(AP, 7/8/14)
2014 Jul 15, In Australia a class-action settlement against electricity provider SP AusNet awarded survivors of a 2009 wildfire nearly 500 million Australian dollars, the largest such compensation in the nation's history. The wildfire killed 119 people and was the biggest in a series of blazes that tore through the southern Australian state of Victoria.
(AP, 7/15/14)
2014 Jul 17, Australia's government repealed a much-maligned carbon tax on the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters, ending years of contention over a measure that became political poison for the lawmakers who imposed it.
(AP, 7/17/14)
2014 Jul 17, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with 298 people on board was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Officials strongly suspected the Boeing 777 was downed by a missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow. More than half of the dead passengers, 189 people, were Dutch. Twenty-nine were Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino, one Canadian, one New Zealand and 4 as yet unidentified. All 15 crew were Malaysian.
(Reuters, 7/18/14)
2014 Jul 20, An Int’l. AIDS opened in Melbourne, Australia, with a tribute to delegates killed in the July 17 shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine.
(SFC, 7/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 29, Australian media reported that arrest warrants have been issued for a pair of Australian citizens, Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar, believed to be fighting in Syria, after images emerged of the two holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers.
(Reuters, 7/29/14)
2014 Aug 2, Australia officials said some 157 asylum-seekers, thought to be mostly ethnic Tamils from Sri Lanka and detained at sea for weeks, have been sent to the island of Nauru after rejecting a return to India.
(AFP, 8/2/14)
2014 Aug 17, Australia said it will offer to resettle some 4,400 people fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 8/17/14)
2014 Aug 27, Australia’s intelligence chief David Irvine said 15 Australians, including two suicide bombers, are believed to have died fighting in Syria and Iraq and warned that espionage and foreign intervention threats were increasing.
(AFP, 8/27/14)
2014 Aug 28, Australia and Indonesia signed a new security agreement to mend a relationship badly damaged by allegations last year that Australia was listening to the telephone conversations of Pres. Susilo Bambang.
(AP, 8/28/14)
2014 Aug 31, PM Tony Abbott said Australia will drop military equipment and aid to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in northern Iraq in response to a request from the United States.
(Reuters, 8/31/14)
2014 Sep 1, Australia ratcheted up sanctions against Russia in line with the United States and EU in response to Russian soldiers openly violating Ukraine sovereignty.
(AP, 9/1/14)
2014 Sep 3, Australia banned uranium sales to Russia over its actions in Ukraine while announcing it will set up an embassy in Kiev and may offer military assistance.
(AFP, 9/3/14)
2014 Sep 5, Australian PM Tony Abbott and India’s PM Narendra Modi signed a long-awaited uranium nuclear. Modi also announced $20 million in funding for further India-Australian scientific projects.
(AFP, 9/5/14)
2014 Sep 10, Australian police arrested two men for allegedly preparing to fight in Syria, recruiting jihadists and raising money for an al-Qaida offshoot group.
(AP, 9/10/14)
2014 Sep 12, The Australian government raised its terrorism threat level to the second-highest warning in response to the domestic threat posed by Islamic State movement supporters.
(AP, 9/14/14)
2014 Sep 18, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said militants connected with radical group Islamic State were planning to behead a member of the public, after hundreds of police raided homes in a sweeping counter-terrorism operation.
(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 Sep 20, In Australia finance chiefs from G20 nations held talks, confident they can "change the destiny of the global economy" despite rising world political tensions and mounting fears of financial instability.
(AP, 9/20/14)
2014 Sep 21, Australians rallied for climate action, from protesters chanting "Green energy" outside G20 talks to forming a human chain message in Sydney as part of an international day of action.
(AFP, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 21, In Australia finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies said they are close to reaching their goal of boosting world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the next five years, and will focus on infrastructure investment to help reach the target.
(AP, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 23, In Australia a man (18) was shot dead in Melbourne and two counterterrorism police were stabbed in a confrontation.
(AP, 9/23/14)
2014 Sep 26, Australia and Cambodia signed an agreement for asylum-seekers, who are refused residency in Australia and currently held in Nauru, to instead be resettled to Cambodia criticized for its deteriorating human rights record.
(AP, 9/26/14)(Econ, 10/4/14, p.48)
2014 Oct 1, Australia’s Parliament passed a raft of counterterrorism laws that extend secret service powers despite concerns about its impact on press freedom.
(SFC, 10/2/14, p.A2)
2014 Oct 2, Australia authorized the deployment of special forces to advise and assist Iraqi forces alongside British, Canadian and US advisers already on the ground.
(AFP, 10/3/14)
2014 Oct 3, Australia’s government said it will investigate sexual abuse claims at its refugee detention center on Nauru, while removing 10 aid workers from the South Pacific island following reports of coaching detainees to commit self-harm protests.
(Reuters, 10/3/14)
2014 Oct 15, Australian literature-lovers cheered after Richard Flanagan won the prestigious Booker Prize with a visceral story of wartime brutality and its aftermath. Flanagan drew on his father's experiences as a World War II prisoner of the Japanese for "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," which centers on the Burma Death Railway.
(AP, 10/15/14)
2014 Oct 19, Australia's foreign minister said she had reached a deal with Baghdad for the deployment of about 200 special forces to assist Iraqi troops in their fight against jihadists.
(AFP, 10/19/14)
2014 Oct 21, Former Australian PM Gough Whitlam (98) died at a nursing home in Sydney. His government (1972-1975) was credited with instituting lasting social reforms during a short tenure that ended in a bitter constitutional crisis.
(AP, 10/21/14)(Econ, 11/1/14, p.86)
2014 Oct 28, It was reported that Australia is suspending entry visas for people from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa in an attempt to keep out the disease.
(AP, 10/28/14)
2014 Oct 29, Australian scientists said they have successfully tested a vaccine against chlamydia in wild koalas, in what they believe is a breakthrough in combating the sexually-transmitted disease ravaging the native marsupial.
(AFP, 10/29/14)
2014 Oct 31, In Australia the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) wound up a 10-day meeting in Hobart without the consensus needed for a deal to conserve and manage the marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean. China and Russia thwarted an international attempt to create the world’s largest ocean sanctuary in Antarctica.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)
2014 Nov 13, In Australia more than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Bondi Beach, mocking the government's reluctance to put climate change on the agenda of a G20 summit this weekend.
(Reuters, 11/13/14)
2014 Nov 15, In Australia the G20 summit opened in Brisbane. Western leaders warned Vladimir Putin that he risked more economic sanctions if he failed to end Russian backing for separatist rebels in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 16, In Australia leaders from the G20 group of nations agreed to boost flagging global growth, tackle climate change and crack down on tax avoidance. Leaders completed a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years. Russian President Vladimir Putin left summit in Brisbane early as US President Barack Obama accused Russia of invading Ukraine and Britain warned of a possible "frozen conflict" in Europe.
(Reuters, 11/16/14)(SFC, 11/17/14, p.A6)
2014 Nov 17, Australia and China signed a preliminary free-trade deal that would give Australia's service industry unsurpassed access to the Chinese market and Australian agriculture advantages over competitors from the United States, Canada and the European Union.
(AP, 11/17/14)
2014 Dec 4, Australia for the first time exercised sweeping new security powers allowing it to block citizens from traveling to overseas conflict zones such as those in Iraq and Syria, where dozens of Australians have joined Islamist militant groups.
(Reuters, 12/4/14)
2014 Dec 6, Australian court documents revealed that a boy (18) raped his best buddy’s sixty-two year old mom at knife point after she invited him into her home in Sydney. The boy pleaded guilty last week to aggravated sexual assault.
(http://tinyurl.com/n7bvb3g)
2014 Dec 15, In Australia at least five hostages were released or escaped after being held in Sidney’s Martin Place Lindt Chocolate Cafe by Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh. Heavily armed officers stormed the cafe after a 16 hour stand-off. Monis and 2 hostages of 17 were left dead. Monis shot manager Tori Johnson (34) in the back of the head. An inquest revealed that hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by police bullet fragments.
(Reuters, 12/15/14)(SSFC, 12/21/14, p.A10)(SFC, 1/30/15, p.A2)
2014 Dec 19, In northern Australia the bodies of 8 children, aged 2-14 years, and a wounded woman, Mersane Warria (37), were discovered in a home in Cairns, Queensland state. On Dec 21 Warria was charged with eight counts of murder. She was the mother of seven of them; the eighth was her niece.
(AP, 12/19/14)(AP, 12/21/14)
2014 Dec 26, Syrian forces killed Mohammed al-Ghazzawi, a former Sidney resident and the latest Australian jihadist to be killed fighting for the Islamic State.
(SSFC, 1/4/15, p.A4)
2014 Iain McCalman authored “The Reef: A Passionate History: the Great Barrier Reef from Captain Cook to Climate Change."
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.77)
(AP, 6/23/14)
2014 In Australia scientists began using a solution made of salts from cattle bile to kill the crown-of-thorns starfish, which have been chomping their way through the Great Barrier Reef.
(Econ., 4/11/15, p.38)
2014 Malka Leifer (48) was put under house arrest in Israel and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn’t fit to stand trial. In 2008, as allegations of sexual abuse surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer, a trusted teacher and school principal in an insular religious community in Australia, left her position at the school suddenly and returned to Israel.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2015 Jan 3, In Australia thousands of people fled their homes as wildfires raged across the nation's south, with firefighters struggling to contain the blazes fanned by strong winds.
(AP, 1/3/15)
2015 Jan 4, Australian PM Tony Abbott made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, meeting with top officials to discuss ways his country can aid Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 5, Southern Australia. State Premier Jay Weatherill said that hundreds of fire fighters have taken advantage of milder conditions in recent days to attempt to contain the fire which has razed 12,500 hectares (31,000 acres) of countryside in hills northwest of Adelaide.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 26, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott conferred an Australian knighthood on Prince Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.34)
2015 Jan 29, Australian best-selling author Colleen McCullough (b.1937) died on Norfolk Island after a long illness. Her 25 novels included "The Thorn Birds" (1977), which sold 30 million copies worldwide.
(AP, 1/29/15)
2015 Feb 1, Egypt deported Al-Jazeera reporter Peter Greste to his native Australia after holding him for more than 400 days despite global condemnation. Colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and an Egyptian producer, Baher Mohamed, remained in prison.
(AFP, 2/1/15)
2015 Feb 9, In Australia a Japanese citizen died after a shark tore off his legs while he was surfing off the coast of New South Wales.
(SFC, 2/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Feb 10, In Australia two men were arrested for planning to launch an imminent terrorist attack. Police seized a homemade flag associated with the Islamic State, a machete and a hunting knife in a counterterrorism raid.
(AP, 2/11/15)
2015 Feb 20, In Australia two powerful cyclones pounded the Northern Territory and Queensland, leaving a trail of destruction with houses ripped apart, trees uprooted and electricity cut to thousands of people. Authorities said there were no fatalities.
(AFP, 2/20/15)
2015 Mar 3, Australia and Switzerland signed an accord in Canberra aimed at cracking down on tax evaders.
(AP, 3/3/15)
2015 Mar 11, In Iraq Australian suicide bomber Jake Bilardi (18), also known as Jihadi Jake, died in a suicide bomb attack west of Baghdad.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Bilardi)(AP, 10/31/17)
2015 Mar 19, Australia said it would introduce legislation next week to scrap the parliament of Norfolk Island, which was effectively bankrupt, and temporarily replace it by an advisory council before local government elections in 2016.
(AFP, 3/19/15)
2015 Mar 29, Australia announced that it would join negotiations to establish a Chinese-led Asian regional bank that has emerged as a potential challenge to US influence.
(SFC, 3/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 31, In Australia 55 dead greyhounds were found dumped and spent rifle cartridges seen nearby in near Bundaberg, Queensland state. The grisly discovery came on the heels of a live baiting scandal rocking the dog racing industry.
(AFP, 4/1/15)
2015 Apr 4, In Australia thousands of anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters clashed in angry rallies around the country.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 9, Australia reported that second case of the so-called Tropical Race 4 strain of Panama disease affecting banana plants has been confirmed, dashing hopes that a recently confirmed outbreak would be isolated and threatening the country's A$550 million ($423 million) sector.
(Reuters, 4/9/15)
2015 Apr 13, In Australia a man (47) from Warwick, Queensland, was charged with 145 sex offences against at least 28 children, including rape, after allegedly using social media to groom them.
(AFP, 4/13/15)
2015 Apr 18, Hundreds of Australian police arrested five teens (18-19) planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack next week at an event to mark the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli during World War One.
(Reuters, 4/18/15)
2015 Apr 20, A fierce storm lashed southeast Australia destroying homes, stranding dozens of people in swirling floodwaters. In Dungog three people were found dead and at least one home was swept away.
(AP, 4/21/15)
2015 Apr 22, In Australia a cyclonic storm lashing the east coast for a third day was declared a catastrophe after destroying homes, cutting power to more than 200,000 homes and causing millions of dollars of damage in Sydney and other cities. The confirmed death toll from the storm reached 4.
(Reuters, 4/22/15)
2015 May 2, Australian police said flash floods killed 5 people in south-east Queensland when their cars were swept away following a rain storm on the east coast.
(Reuters, 5/2/15)
2015 May 8, An Australian teen (17) was arrested in a joint federal-state police counterterrorism operation at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Greenvale where three explosive devices were found.
(AP, 5/9/15)
2015 May 13, Bob Randall (81), Aborigine teacher and campaigner, died. He was a victim of the Australian policy (1910-1970) to place half-castes in institutions to civilize and Christianize them.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.90)
2015 May 20, Cambodia accepted the first four people under an agreement it made with Australia nine months ago to take in asylum-seekers rejected for residency there.
(AP, 5/21/15)
2015 May, Australia’s government announced it would increase penalties for illegal purchases to rigorously enforce rules under which foreigners are only allowed to buy new dwellings, and not existing residential property.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Jun 5, Australian businessman Alan Bond (b.1938) died in Perth.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.62)
2015 Jun 14, Australian PM Tony Abbott refused again to deny allegations an official paid thousands of dollars to turn back a boatload of asylum-seekers, despite calls from Indonesia for answers.
(AFP, 6/14/15)
2015 Jun 18, Australia’s government under PM Tony Abbott published a white paper outlining plans for developing northern Australia over the next twenty years.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.33)
2015 Jun 23, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation cited people close to the families of Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar as saying the pair died in fighting in Mosul in the past week. They were notorious for being pictured holding severed heads.
(AFP, 6/23/15)
2015 Jul 8, Australia extradited Dragan Vasiljkovic, also known as Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden, to Croatia to face war crimes charges. He was a former Serb paramilitary commander during the 1991-1995 Balkan wars.
(AP, 7/8/15)
2015 Jul 26, Australian nurse Adam Brookman (39) was charged with terrorism offences for allegedly supporting the Islamic State group in Syria. He had voluntarily returned home from the war-torn country on July 24. Brookman told Fairfax Media in an interview in the past week he carried out humanitarian work in Syria and was forced to join the jihadist group after being injured and sent to IS-controlled territory.
(AFP, 7/26/15)
2015 Jul 27, Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, launched in 2013, heard that the local Jehovah's Witnesses Church failed to report to police more than 1,000 cases of child sexual abuse going back more than 60 years.
(Reuters, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 29, In Australia Leonard John Warwick (68) was arrested for a 1980-1984 series of bombings and shootings in Sydney left four people dead. Warwick, a former firefighter, had an extended dispute in the Family Court with his estranged wife over the custody of their infant daughter in the early 1980s. In 2020 Warwick was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 7/29/15)(SFC, 9/4/20, p.A2)
2015 Jul, Papua New Guinea’s PM Peter O’Neill announced a ban on foreign, mostly Australian, consultants. A ban on vegetable imports from Australia soon followed.
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.39)
2015 Aug 2, Bronwyn Bishop, the speaker of Australia's House of Representatives, resigned following weeks of accusations that she used taxpayer money to pay for extravagant and unnecessary travel. The travel row erupted with reports on July 15th that Mrs. Bishop had spent A$5,227 ($3,800) last November chartering a helicopter to fly from Melbourne to Geelong, two cities little more than an hour’s car ride apart.
(http://tinyurl.com/kphj7bs)(AP, 8/2/15)
2015 Aug 11, Australian lawmakers in PM Tony Abbott's conservative government agreed on a target of curbing carbon gas emissions to at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
(AP, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 11, Australian PM Tony Abbott's conservative coalition government blocked its members from voting in favor of gay marriage, a politically risky move that effectively rules out a marriage equality bill passing under his government.
(Reuters, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 13, Australia’s Sidney Morning Herald reported that the Islamic State has hacked the personal information of Defense Force employees and their relatives, New South Wales health employees and several other public servants. It said the IS has bragged of gathering the names of some 1,400 people, most of whom are supposedly US military personnel.
(SSFC, 8/16/15, p.A4)
2015 Sep 6, PM Tony Abbott said Australia will accept more refugees from camps bordering Syria and Iraq and “is open" to providing more financial assistance.
(Reuters, 9/6/15)
2015 Sep 7, Australia's PM Tony Abbott said that his country will resettle a "significant" number of refugees from Syria this year, while the opposition called for an additional 10,000 refugee places to help the world cope with a humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 9/7/15)
2015 Sep 9, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said his country would take an additional 12,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria and would join in an air campaign against the Islamic State.
(SFC, 9/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Sep 14, Australia will have its fifth prime minister in eight years after the ruling Liberal Party voted out Tony Abbott in favor of longtime rival Malcolm Turnbull, following months of infighting and crumbling voter support. Turnbull made a fortune in the 1990s by investing in OzMail, an Australian internet-service provider.
(Reuters, 9/14/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.57)
2015 Sep 15, In Australia multi-millionaire former banker Malcolm Turnbull (60) was sworn in as the nation’s 29th prime minister and the fourth in just over two years.
(AFP, 9/15/15)(Econ, 9/19/15, p.35)
2015 Sep 20, Australia's new PM Malcom Turnbull announced sweeping changes to his first Cabinet and promoted more women, including Australia's first female defense minister.
(AP, 9/20/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Australia an Iran-born teenager (15) of Iraqi-Kurdish background shot a New South Wales police finance worker with a handgun at close range as the man left work in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The teen then fired at responding officers, who shot and killed him. Farhad Jabar (15) was shot dead by police moments after he killed Curtis Cheng (58) with a .38 Smith & Wesson as the accountant walked from the New South Wales state police headquarters in central Sydney after work. In 2018 Talal Alameddine (25), the man who provided the revolver used to kill the state police employee, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 5/18/18)
2015 Oct 5, Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal on creating the world's largest free trade area (TPP), delivering President Barack Obama a major policy triumph. The Trans-Pacific Partnership included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Australia four people were arrested over the terror-linked murder of a police employee after coordinated raids by more than 200 officers on properties across Sydney.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Australia hundreds of protesters faced off with left-wing opponents in a standoff over plans to build a mosque in the rural town of Bendigo, Victoria state.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 17, Australia announced plans to legalize the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, saying those suffering debilitating illnesses deserved access to the most effective treatments.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 28, Australia’s Troy Resources Limited said it plans to open a large gold mine in upcoming weeks at the mine in the Puruni region in western Guyana.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Nov 2, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Queen Elizabeth II had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 18, Australian authorities said at least 4 people have died in bushfires raging out of control in parts of Western Australia.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 25, Australian officials said at least 2 people have been killed and several others injured by huge wildfires that also destroyed homes near the southern city of Adelaide and continue to burn out of control.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 26, Sixteen migrants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh and their Indonesian skipper were found stranded in Indonesia's part of Timor Island. The next day Indonesia said Australian officials had destroyed a boat carrying asylum seekers and then pushed them back to sea in another vessel.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 29, Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd warned Japan against resuming "research" whaling in the Antarctic and called on the Australian government to intervene.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Dec 3, Australia's parliament passed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences or found to have fought with banned groups overseas, despite concerns about deporting jihadists.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 5, A ship carrying 25 tons of radioactive waste arrived back in Australia, met by activists who warned against the vast nation becoming a nuclear dumping ground. Australia sent spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing in the 1990s and early 2000s over four shipments, and it has now been returned for long-term storage.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 9, Former Australian PM Tony Abbott defended his comments suggesting that Western culture is superior to that of Islam, and called for US-led assistance in defeating the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Australia more than 100 homes burned down along parts of Victoria state's picturesque Great Ocean Road in bushfires and the situation continued to remain dangerous.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 27, In western Australia a train was carrying around 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) of the sulfuric acid when it derailed near the small town of Julia Creek in Queensland state.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2016 Jan 10, Australian authorities said 2 people have died and more than a hundred homes have been destroyed in a huge bushfire, as firefighters battled to tame the out-of-control blaze in Western Australia state.
(AFP, 1/10/16)
2016 Jan, The feral cat population of Australia, estimated at 4-20 million, was believed to eat as many as 75 million animals a day.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.42)
2016 Feb 1, In Australia 16 young kangaroos were found killed after being deliberately run down by a driver. Another had to be euthanized because of its injuries.
(AP, 2/1/16)
2016 Feb 2, The Australian government changed the rules to make politics more family-friendly allowing lawmakers to now breastfeed in the Parliament. None of the nursing mothers appeared keen to take up the opportunity.
(AP, 2/2/16)
2016 Feb 3, Australia's High Court threw out a challenge to the country’s right to deport detained asylum seekers to the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru.
(Reuters, 2/3/16)
2016 Feb 10, Australian lawmakers committed to legalize the growing of marijuana for medical use within a part of the world renowned for zero-tolerance and harsh penalties for illegal drugs.
(AP, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 15, Australian officials said law enforcement agencies have discovered 1.26 billion Australian dollars ($900 million) worth of methylamphetamine hidden in imported boxes of silicon bra inserts and art supplies in the country's largest haul of the illicit drug in its liquid form. Four Hong Kong passport holders were arrested in Sydney last month over the import from China of 720 liters (190 gallons) of the drug.
(AP, 2/15/16)
2016 Feb 22, The Australian government said it plans to start a register of foreign ownership of water rights, redoubling its efforts to appease voters concerned about the amount of farming assets being sold offshore.
(Reuters, 2/22/16)
2016 Feb 29, Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on systemic sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, said senior clergy lied to him to cover up abuse in the 1970s.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 1, Australian scientists warned coral bleaching was occurring on the Great Barrier Reef as sea temperatures warm, and it could rapidly accelerate unless cooler conditions blow in over the next few weeks.
(AFP, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 7, In Australia a man (33) who police say fatally shot one person and wounded two others inside a western Sydney business was found dead inside the building after a six-hour standoff.
(AP, 3/7/16)
2016 Mar 18, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull won approval from Parliament to simplify the country’s convoluted system of proportional representation under which the Senate is elected.
(Econ, 3/26/16, p.45)
2016 Mar 19, Cities on Australia's east coast were among the first in the world to turn lights out for the 10th annual Earth Hour, a global movement dedicated to protecting the planet and highlighting the effects of climate change.
(Reuters, 3/19/16)(AP, 3/19/16)
2016 Mar 20, The Australian government ended its push to log World Heritage-listed forests on the southern island state of Tasmania, after the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO issued a report calling for the area to remain protected from logging.
(Reuters, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 21, Elmer Funke Kupper, the head of Australia's stock market operator, resigned amid a police inquiry into bribery allegations at a gaming group he previously managed.
(AFP, 3/21/16)
2016 Mar 21, In Australia Paul Whyte, a first officer on Qantas international flights, was the only person aboard a rented Cessna 172 when it vanished from radar late today over the Pacific Ocean 11 km (seven miles) northeast of Byron Bay.
(AP, 3/24/16)
2016 Mar 23, In Timor-Leste thousands of people rallied in front of the Australian embassy in Dili in anger over Australia’s refusal to negotiate a permanent boundary in the Timor Sea, which held untold quantities of oil and gas.
(Econ, 4/9/15, p.42)
2016 Mar 24, Australian and Malaysian officials said that two pieces of debris recently discovered along the coast of Mozambique are "highly likely" to have come from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
(AP, 3/24/16)
2016 Apr 4, Australia’s tax agency said more than 800 wealthy Australians are under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with a Panamanian law firm.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 19, Australian scientists said coral bleaching has been detected in Sydney Harbour for the first time, blaming the damaging phenomenon also found in the Great Barrier Reef on warming sea-surface temperatures.
(AFP, 4/19/16)
2016 Apr 20, Australian local media said it will cost an estimated A$93 million ($72.68 million) to begin the clean-up of environmental damage at the bankrupt Yabulu nickel refinery in the country's northeast near the Great Barrier Reef.
(Reuters, 4/20/16)
2016 Apr 22, In Australia Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham posted a video on Facebook showing him set fire to the Condamine River in Queensland, to draw attention to methane gas he says is seeping into the water due to fracking. The dramatic video quickly attracted more than two millions views.
(AFP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 26, Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that France has beaten Japan and Germany to win a A$50 billion ($40 billion) deal to build a fleet of 12 submarines for Australia, one of the world's most lucrative defense contracts.
(Reuters, 4/26/16)
2016 Apr 26, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled that Australia's detention of asylum seekers at a facility on the Pacific nation's Manus Island is unconstitutional. A day later PM Peter O’Neill announced the detention center would be closed.
(AP, 4/26/16)(SFC, 4/28/16, p.A4)
2016 May 2, Craig Wright, an Australian man long rumored to be associated with the digital currency Bitcoin, publicly identified himself as its creator, a claim that would end one of the biggest mysteries in the tech world. BBC News said that Wright told the media outlet he is the man previously known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The computer scientist, inventor and academic said he launched the currency in 2009 with the help of others.
(AP, 5/2/16)
2016 May 6, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced the launch of the next stage of a multibillion-dollar gold and copper mine in Mongolia following delays and political tension over revenue sharing and the foreign role in resource industries.
(AP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 6, In Iraq Australia-born terrorist and former rapper Neil Prakash (24) was killed in an American air strike in Mosul.
(SSFC, 5/8/16, p.A4)
2016 May 6, A Papua New Guinea court ruled that a pregnant African woman, who says she was raped at an Australia detention center for asylum seekers on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru, cannot be forced to have an abortion in Papua New Guinea because it is unsafe and illegal.
(Reuters, 5/7/16)
2016 May 9, An Australian law firm filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of families of victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The application names the Russian Federation and Putin as respondents and seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger.
(Reuters, 5/21/16)
2016 May 12, In Australia the 4-day Sexpo, Sydney's adult entertainment and lifestyle show, opened for its 20th year.
(http://www.sexpo.com.au/)(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 15, Australians cheered contestant and juries' favorite Dami Im for placing second at the annual Eurovision song contest in Sweden.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 30, Scientists said mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, though corals to the south have escaped with little damage.
(AP, 5/30/16)
2016 Jun 5, In Australia torrential rain and high winds battered the east coast, leaving up to 26,000 homes without power while flooding forced hundreds of people into evacuation centers.
(Reuters, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 6, Australian authorities said 3 people were killed in floodwaters from a strong storm that pounded the east coast over the weekend.
(AP, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 14, Australian researchers said the Bramble Cay melomys, a rodent that only lived on Bramble Cay in the Great Barrier Reef, has become the first documented mammal to go extinct due to man-made climate change.
(SFC, 6/15/16, p.A4)
2016 Jul 2, Australia held general elections. PM Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party-led coalition needed 76 of 150 seats to form a government. On July 10 Turnbull finally claimed victory for his conservative coalition. The incumbent Liberal/National coalition secured 76 seats in the 150-seat lower House of Representatives.
(AP, 7/2/16)(AP, 7/10/16)(AFP, 7/11/16)
2016 Jul 7, Australia's greyhound industry was reeling after New South Wales, the country's most populous, state banned the sport following a string of scandals including "live baiting" and the slaughter of tens of thousands of dogs.
(AFP, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 12, In Australia Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov (65) launched his 184-foot-tall balloon in western Australia state in an effort to complete a 21,000-mile solo flight around the world in less than 13 days to beat a 2002 record set by Steve Fossett.
(SFC, 7/13/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 17, US Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a series of agreements between the US and Australia to create an "unprecedented" international research database of cancer patients as he kicked off a three-day visit in Melbourne.
(AFP, 7/17/16)
2016 Jul 26, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull said that he would launch a Royal Commission after graphic footage emerged of teens being tear-gassed and stripped naked at a youth detention center in the Northern Territory.
(AP, 7/26/16)
2016 Jul 28, Australian officials confirmed that data recovered from a home flight simulator owned by Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the captain of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, showed that someone had used the device to plot a course to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed.
(AP, 7/28/16)
2016 Aug 2, Australia's central bank dropped interest rates to a new record low of 1.5% after a recent run of soft inflation readings.
(AFP, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 2, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ordered Australia to present a resettlement plan for nearly 900 asylum seekers held in what it says is an illegal detention center on Manus island. Detainees feared the move will further delay their release.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 5, Australia said it was suspending funding for relief group World Vision's operations in the Palestinian Territories after allegations its Gaza representative funneled millions of dollars to the Islamist militant group Hamas.
(Reuters, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 9, In Australia several cyberattacks and a hardware failure led to a census website being shut down thwarting a first attempt to conduct the census online.
(AP, 8/9/16)
2016 Aug 11, Australia announced that it plans to block Chinese bidders from leasing a major Sydney electricity grid on national security grounds.
(AP, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 23, In Australia visiting Frenchman Smail Ayad (29) shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as he stabbed a British woman to death and wounded two people at a backpackers' hotel in in Home Hill, Queensland state. The dead woman was identified as Mia Ayliffe-Chung (21) from the English county of Derbyshire. On September 30 British backpacker Thomas Jackson (30) died of wounds suffered while trying to stop the attack on Chung.
(Reuters, 8/24/16)(AFP, 8/25/16)(Reuters, 8/30/16)
2016 Aug 24, Australia’s New South Wales parliament in Sydney banned greyhound racing in an overnight session effective from July 1, 2017.
(AFP, 8/24/16)
2016 Aug 28, In Australia Sydney police allegedly found 95 kg (209 pounds) of cocaine in the cabin luggage of Andre Tamine (63), Isabelle Lagace (28) and Melina Roberce (22), all Canadian passengers on the MS Sea Princess cruise ship. The haul was valued at 31 million Australian dollars ($23 million).
(AP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 29, Australian officials said aid worker Kerry Jane Wilson, kidnapped in Afghanistan in April, has been freed by Afghan forces after four months in captivity. Wilson was kidnapped on April 28 in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
(AP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 31, Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull urged his political opponents to allow Australians to endorse gay marriage through a popular vote instead of insisting that the divisive issue be put into lawmakers' hands.
(AP, 8/31/16)
2016 Aug, Australia said it would close an asylum seekers’ camp in Papua New Guinea, but did not say when or where the refugees would go.
(Econ, 9/3/16, p.34)
2016 Sep 1, Australian scientists unveiled fossils dating back 3.7 billion years. Tiny structures called stromatolites were found in ancient rock along the edge of Greenland's ice cap. The earliest evidence of life on Earth ahead of the Greenland discovery came from near-3.5 million-year-old stromatolites found in western Australia in 2006.
(AFP, 9/1/16)
2016 Sep 19, The Australian government said it has reached a 39.3 million Australian dollar ($29.6 million) settlement with the owners of Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng1 to pay for environmental damage to the Great Barrier Reef caused when the ship went off course in April 2010 and grounded on Douglas Shoal.
(AP, 9/19/16)
2016 Oct, In China the head of Crown's VIP International team, Jason O'Connor, was among three Australian and 15 Chinese employees detained for suspected gambling crimes. Jenny Chiang (33), a Shanghai-based Chinese citizen, was released on Nov 11.
(AP, 11/12/16)
2016 Nov 7, Australia’s Senate blocked a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 11/8/16, p.A4)
2016 Nov 9, Australia's prime minister beat other world leaders to an early call with President-elect Donald Trump by getting his cellphone number from Greg Norman, the golfing great. PM Malcolm Turnbull said he had a warm and "very frank" 15-minute discussion with Trump within hours of the Republican nominee claiming victory in the presidential election.
(AP, 11/17/16)
2016 Nov 18, In Australia a man (21) injured 26 bystanders when he set himself on fire with gasoline in a bank branch in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale. He was soon identified as a Myanmar asylum seeker, known by his friends as Noor, who had been waiting three years to be accepted as a refugee.
(AP, 11/19/16)
2016 Nov 22, In Australia a downdraft generated by a passing line of thunderstorms in the state of Victoria pushed a layer of cold air thick with pollen, dust and other particles through Melbourne. At least ten people died.
(Econ., 5/16/20, p.49)
2016 Nov 23, Australian researchers said daylight saving time could reduce the decline of koalas in Queensland state, where the population has plunged by 80% in less than two decades in great part due to road accidents.
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.A2)
2016 Nov 29, Airbus said it wants to cut more than 1,100 jobs across Europe after presenting a reorganization plan to the works council in Toulouse.
(AP, 11/29/16)
2016 Nov, The Obama administration agreed to accept up to 1,250 refugees held at Nauru, who have been refused entry to Australia. Most of the refugees were from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka.
(SFC, 2/10/17, p.A2)
2016 Dec 1, Australia’s Senate approved a law allowing convicted terrorists to be kept in prison after the completion of their sentence if a court believes they still pose a significant threat to the community.
(SFC, 12/2/16, p.A2)
2016 Dec 5, Mexico struck a deal with Australia’s BHP Billiton to develop the Trion oil field in Mexico with state-oil firm Pemex.
(Econ, 12/10/16, p.62)
2016 Dec 23, Australian officials said they have detained five suspects who were allegedly planning a series of Christmas day bombings in the heart of Melbourne.
(SFC, 12/23/16, p.A2)
2016 Dec 28, Oil company BP said it has agreed to buy the fuel business of Australian supermarket chain Woolworths Ltd for $1.3 billion as part of its efforts to rebuild itself.
(AP, 12/28/16)
2016 Australian Historian James Curran authored “Fighting with America: A Lowy Institute Paper: Penguin Special: Why saying ‘No’ to the US wouldn’t rupture the alliance.
(http://tinyurl.com/ybzqns4h)(Econ, 2/11/17, p.33)
2016 Cal Flyn authored “Thicker Than Water: History Secrets and Guilt." Here she covered the 19th century massacres of Australian indigenous people.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.74)
2016 Robert Wainw right authored “The Maverick Mountaineer: The Remarkable Life of George Ingle Finch: Climber, Scientist, Inventor." Australian chemist George Ingle Finch (b.1888) died in 1970.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.91)
2016 Huge sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef were killed this year by overheated seawater.
(SFC, 3/16/17, p.A2)
2016 Australia’s population was about 24 million. Aborigines accounted for about 3% of the population.
(Econ, 6/18/16, p.41)(Econ 7/8/17, p.35)
2016 British firms owned approximately 7% of Australia’s agricultural land.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.34)
2017 Jan 5, An Indonesian government minister clarified that the country was suspending only part of its military cooperation with Australia, as that country promised its investigation of an alleged insult of Indonesian beliefs was nearly complete. Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said the issue began in November, after an Indonesian military officer raised concerns about teaching materials and remarks made at an army language-training facility in western Australia.
(AP, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 13, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull accepted the resignation of Sussan Ley, his health minister, after claims that she had misused taxpayers’ money.
(Econ, 1/21/17, p.31)
2017 Jan 14, The leaders of Australia and Japan agreed to boost cooperation between their militaries, as Japan tries to shore up security ties throughout the Asia-Pacific region amid concern over China's growing military might.
(AP, 1/14/17)
2017 Jan 20, In Australia a man (26) deliberately drove into pedestrians, killing four and injuring more than 20, in the center Melbourne. Police eventually rammed the car and shot the driver in the arm, before dragging him from the vehicle and arresting him. Police said the incident was not terrorism-related.
(Reuters, 1/20/17)
2017 Feb 2, US ties with ally Australia were strained over a reported acrimonious phone call between their two leaders. Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull insisted that a deal struck with the Obama administration that would allow mostly Muslim refugees rejected by Australia to be resettled in the United States was still on, despite President Donald Trump dubbing the agreement "dumb" and vowing to review it.
(Reuters, 2/2/17)(AP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 6, Australian church data showed that seven percent of Catholic priests working in Australia between 1950 and 2010 were accused of child sex crimes but few were pursued, as hearings began over allegations dating back decades.
(Reuters, 2/6/17)
2017 Feb 7, A Thai court sentenced Australian Antonio Bagnato (28) to death for the murder of a countryman who was an alleged confederate in a drug smuggling gang. He was found guilty of killing former Hells Angels member Wayne Schneider in November 2015 after he and accomplices beat and kidnapped the victim from his luxury villa in the Pattaya resort area.
(AP, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 9, An Australian minister said US officials have stopped screening refugees on Nauru for potential resettlement in the US, but will return for “extreme vetting," a process called for by Pres. Trump but not yet defined.
(SFC, 2/10/17, p.A2)
2017 Feb 19, In Abu Dhabi Australia's Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, met on the sidelines of the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX). The two agreed to consider a 10-year defense plan that could include more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($767 million) in sales to the UAE.
(Reuters, 2/19/17)
2017 Feb 21, In Australia a light plane crashed into a shopping mall shortly after takeoff in the city of Melbourne. The Australian pilot and four American tourists were killed including Russell Munsch, a founding Texas law firm partner who had litigated some of the most prominent bankruptcy cases in the US.
(AP, 2/21/17)
2017 Feb 23, Australia's highest-paid public servant announced his resignation, two weeks after the revelation that he made 5.6 million Australian dollars ($4.3 million) last year sparked a public furor and created a political headache for the government. Lebanese-born former banker Ahmed Fahour said he was leaving because Australia Post had transformed from a traditional mail service to a parcel and e-commerce business during his seven years at the helm.
(AP, 2/23/17)
2017 Feb 26, Australia and Indonesia said that full military ties between the two countries had been restored, after Indonesia’s military suspended cooperation in January because of "insulting" teaching material found at an Australian base.
(Reuters, 2/26/17)
2017 Mar 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the Australian capital, Canberra, on a mission to expand bilateral ties.
(AP, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 25, Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge plunged into darkness to mark Earth Hour, as global landmarks began dimming their lights to draw attention to climate change. Conservation group WWF started Earth Hour in 2007.
(AFP, 3/25/17)
2017 Mar 25, China prevented Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, from returning to Sydney because he's suspected of endangering national security. Feng had been wrapping up a three-week trip researching human rights lawyers. Chinese authorities have staged a wide-reaching crackdown on human rights lawyers across the country since July 2015. On April 1 Feng Chongyi was allowed to return to Australia.
(AP, 3/26/17)(AP, 4/2/17)
2017 Mar 28, In Australia Tropical Cyclone Debbie hit the far north of Queensland as a category 4 storm. It was soon downgraded to category 2.
(Reuters, 3/28/17)
2017 Mar 31, Credit Suisse issued a brief statement saying that local authorities had made "visits" to its offices in Amsterdam, Paris and London in connection with unspecified client tax issues. The European Union judicial agency Eurojust said it had helped coordinate cross-border investigations in a major tax evasion investigation involving millions of euros and spanning several European countries and Australia.
(AP, 3/31/17)(Reuters, 3/31/17)
2017 Apr 1, Tens of thousands of Australians were stranded by floodwaters after the remnants of Cyclone Debbie swept along the country's east coast, cutting roads, destroying bridges. The storm left three people dead.
(Reuters, 4/1/17)(Reuters, 4/2/17)
2017 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Malcom Turnbull and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed an aid agreement at the Australian Parliament House worth 320 million Australian dollars ($240 million) over four years. Hundreds of protesters demanded a better deal for the Hazara ethnic minority.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 17, In Australia surfer Laeticia Brouwer (17) died following a shark attack off Esperance, Western Australia state. She was the 3rd such fatality this year.
(http://tinyurl.com/y7trnozf)(Econ 5/20/17, p.33)
2017 Apr 18, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced plans to replace the 457 visa for temporary foreign workers in particular occupations with two new temporary visas requiring better English-language and work skills.
(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A2)
2017 Apr 22, In Australia US Vice President Mike Pence and PM Malcolm Turnbull swept aside any lingering tensions over an Obama era agreement on the resettlement of refugees, joining forces to urge China to take a greater role in pressuring North Korea to scuttle its nuclear weapons and missile program.
(AP, 4/22/17)
2017 Apr 24, Six people were awarded the annual Goldman Environmental Prize. They included Mark Lopez of southern California for work focusing on contamination from a battery recycling plant; Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo of Congo DRC for efforts to protect the Virunga National Park from oil extraction; Prafulla Samantara of India for efforts to halt an open-pit bauxite mine in Odisha state; Uros Maceri of Slovenia for efforts to halt pollution by the Lafarge Cement Co.; Wendy Bowman of Australia for her efforts to halt coal mining and pollution in the Hunter Valley; and Rodrigo Tot of Guatemala for efforts to halt evictions and government corruption related to nickel mining in El Estor and Agua Caliente.
(SFC, 4/24/17, p.A10)
2017 May 23, Sources said US Homeland Security officials have begun "extreme vetting" interviews at Australia's offshore detention centers, as Washington honors a refugee swap that U.S. President Donald Trump had called "a dumb deal".
(AP, 5/23/17)
2017 May 26, In Australia the "Uluru statement from the heart" called for constitutional change to give indigenous Australians a special voice in laws and policies that governed them. On 26 October, 2017, PM Malcolm Turnbull, issued a joint statement with the attorney general, George Brandis, and the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion rejecting the statement.
(https://tinyurl.com/y7xlqbfg)(Econ., 6/20/20, p.32)
2017 May 27, Indonesia deported Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, whose trial and imprisonment on the tourist island of Bali mesmerized her homeland following her arrest in 2004.
(AP, 5/27/17)
2017 May 30, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would cancel the passports of around 20,000 pedophiles on the national child sex offender register under legislation that will be introduced to Parliament soon. Australian pedophiles have been notorious for taking inexpensive vacations to nearby Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries to abuse children there.
(AP, 5/30/17)
2017 Jun 5, In Australia a shootout left two men dead, three police officers wounded and a female hostage freed in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton. Yacqub Khayre (29), a man of Somali background was killed in the gun battle with police. Khayre had first murdered a Chinese-born Australian man working as a receptionist. In 2010 Khayre was one of two men acquitted of plotting a suicide attack in Sidney.
(AP, 6/5/17)(AFP, 6/6/17)(SFC, 6/7/17, p.A5)
2017 Jun 16, A federal minister said Australia will allow gun owners to hand in illegal firearms without penalty from next month in a three-month nationwide amnesty as concerns grow over gun crimes involving such weapons.
(AP, 6/16/17)
2017 Jun 23, Australia agreed to send two surveillance planes to help the Philippines tackle Islamist rebels, as jets and artillery pounded militant positions in a southern town held for more than a month by Islamic State loyalists.
(Reuters, 6/23/17)
2017 Jun 25, Australian police fired pepper spray to break up clashes between right-wing nationalists and anti-racism protesters on the streets of Melbourne, the latest protest held by anti-immigration groups in the country.
(Reuters, 6/25/17)
2017 Jun 26, A Chinese court sentenced 16 Australian and Chinese employees of a casino company to nine to 10 months in prison after they pleaded guilty to gambling-related charges. This included three Australians from the sales and marketing team of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd. On July 12 China released 10 employees of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd., including two Australian citizens, after they completed nine months in prison. This included time served prior to trial.
(AP, 6/26/17)(AP, 7/12/17)
2017 Jun 29, Cardinal George Pell (b.1941), a top adviser to Pope Francis, took a leave of absence as the Vatican's financial chief to fight criminal charges in his native Australia that alleged he committed sexual assault years ago.
(AP, 6/29/17)
2017 Jul 2, Australian former schoolteacher Jeff Horn (29) stunned world champion Manny Pacquiao (38) of the Philippines to win the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown with a controversial unanimous points decision in Brisbane.
(AFP, 7/2/17)
2017 Jul 13, In Australia an unidentified man (58) became the 18th death worldwide due to exploding Takata air bag inflators. The man died in a crash in a Sydney suburb after he was hit in the neck by a metal fragment after air bags deployed in a crash.
(AP, 7/22/17)
2017 Jul 19, In China 30 to 50 people entered the Shanghai office of Sydney-headquartered brokerage, Union Standard Group Forex (USGFX), and prevented 20 staff members from leaving in protest against losses made on currency trades. Those being held were released on July 24.
(Reuters, 7/21/17)(Reuters, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 21, Australia said it plans to allow fishing across 80% of tis protected maritime sanctuaries. The plan required approval by Parliament.
(SFC, 7/22/17, p.A2)
2017 Jul 25, A Sydney lawyer announced a class action lawsuit against Toyota, Honda and Mazda seeking refunds for cars fitted with faulty air bags from Takata that have been linked to 18 deaths around the world.
(AP, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 25, In Australia aboriginal blind singer Dr. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (b.1970), the most beautiful voice in the country, died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC-Jd7KN64)(Econ, 8/5/17, p.70)
2017 Jul 26, Australian police fatally shot a man in Sydney's main train station who was suspected of attempting to rob a florist. The man was armed with a pair of scissors. The man was armed with a pair of scissors.
(AP, 7/26/17)
2017 Jul 29, Australian police foiled "Islamic-inspired" plans for a bomb attack on an aircraft during counter-terrorism raids in which two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons were arrested in several Sydney suburbs. Police later said one man sent his unsuspecting brother to Sydney airport to catch an Etihad Airways flight carrying a home-made bomb disguised as a meat-mincer built at the direction of a senior Islamic State commander. On August 8 Khaled Merhi (39) one of the four arrested men, was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and granted bail.
(AP, 7/29/17)(Reuters, 7/30/17)(SFC, 8/1/17, p.A2)(Reuters, 8/4/17)(AP, 8/6/17)
2017 Jul 29, In Indonesia a six-nation summit co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia agreed to set up a forum to strengthen cooperation between intelligence services to counter extremist threats in Southeast Asia. Security ministers and officials from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and New Zealand held a one-day meeting in Manado.
(AP, 7/29/17)
2017 Jul, Australian-Lebanese dual citizen Amer Khayat was arrested in Lebanon days after Australian authorities foiled an alleged plot to down an Etihad flight bound for Abu Dhabi. He was released in 2019 after a military court said he was innocent in the case. Two of Khayat's brothers were on trial in Australia for the plot. The plan involved detonating a bomb concealed in a meat grinder on a flight from Sydney on July 15, 2017, to the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, but it was abandoned when a bag with the bomb inside was too heavy to be taken aboard as carry-on luggage.
(AP, 9/20/19)
2017 Aug 3, Australian police charged two men with planning a terrorist act, over their role in a foiled "Islamic-inspired" plot to bring down an airplane.
(Reuters, 8/3/17)
2017 Aug 5, Three US Marines were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia while trying to land. 23 others were rescued.
(AP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 17, A third Australian government minister revealed she might have been unlawfully elected to Parliament because of a constitutional ban on dual citizens that has snared six lawmakers since July in an unprecedented political crisis. Fiona Nash, deputy leader of the Nationals junior coalition party, told the Senate she had been advised that she may be British because of her Scottish father.
(AP, 8/17/17)
2017 Aug 18, Australia's widening citizenship crisis entangled a seventh politician, a key independent senator whose support is critical for PM Malcolm Turnbull to pass legislation through a hostile Senate. Senator Nick Xenophon said he may hold dual citizenship, Australian and British, which would make him ineligible to sit in parliament.
(Reuters, 8/18/17)
2017 Aug 26, In Australia thousands of people rallied for marriage equality in Melbourne ahead of a postal survey on same-sex marriage which could lead to its legalization.
(Reuters, 8/26/17)
2017 Sep 2, It was reported that Australia and East Timor have reached a breakthrough agreement on a maritime border, ending a decade-old row between the two nations that has stalled a $40 billion offshore gas project.
(Reuters, 9/2/17)
2017 Sep 8, Australia’s Defense Minister Marise Payne said troops will be sent to assist Philippine forces in the ongoing battle against Islamic State fighters in the southern city of Marawi.
(Reuters, 9/8/17)
2017 Sep 8, In Samoa at the Pacific Island Leaders Forum PM Malcolm Turnbull said Australia will extend its Pacific Islands migrant labor program and fly aerial surveillance missions to protect valuable Pacific fisheries.
(Reuters, 9/9/17)
2017 Sep 10, In Australia more than 20,000 people rallied in Sydney urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, days ahead of a contentious postal survey on the issue that has divided the country.
(Reuters, 9/10/17)
2017 Sep 13, Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson (37) won Aus$4.5 million ($3.6 million) in damages following a lengthy defamation case against a publisher that portrayed her as a serial liar. Bauer Media argued the allegations made in Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015 were true and denied they had damaged her reputation.
(AP, 9/13/17)
2017 Sep 24, In Australia hundreds of people attended rallies in major cities to protest an advertisement the Indian community described as "highly insulting" in its depiction of the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha. The ad featured various religious figures including the Hindu god, considered vegetarian by followers, sitting down to a meal of lamb.
(AP, 9/24/17)
2017 Sep 24, Refugees left one of Australia's offshore detention centers for the United States, as part of a swap brokered by former US president Barack Obama last year. About 25 men left the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea.
(Reuters, 9/24/17)
2017 Sep 25, PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Australia will create its own space agency to increase its share of the $330 billion space economy.
(SFC, 9/26/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 30, Australia dispatched a naval vessel to Vanuatu to help the South Pacific nation evacuate all 11,000 inhabitants from the northern island of Ambae as an erupting volcano threatens to shower down burning ash and acid rain.
(Reuters, 9/30/17)
2017 Oct 8, It was reported that Australia’s pet and feral cats are killing more than 1 million birds every day.
(SSFC, 10/8/17, p.C14)
2017 Oct 15, In Australia hundreds of protesters marched through Sydney to call for detainees, being held in controversial centers for asylum seekers on remote Pacific islands, to be allowed to stay in Australia as a resettlement deadline approaches.
(Reuters, 10/15/17)
2017 Oct 21, In Australia thousands of people rallied around the country urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, one week before final ballots can be submitted in a contentious postal survey on the issue that has divided the country.
(Reuters, 10/21/17)
2017 Oct 29, Sir Ninian Stephen (94), former Australian Governor-General (1982-1989), died. He had worked on the Northern Ireland peace talks and served on the International Court of Justice.
(Reuters, 10/29/17)
2017 Nov 3, The UN human rights office called on Australia to restore food, water and health services to about 600 interned refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, which Canberra cut off three days ago.
(AP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 11, In Australia lawmaker John Alexander (67) announced his resignation over a constitutional ban on dual citizens sitting in Parliament, triggering a second by-election that could cost the government its fragile grip on power.
(AP, 11/11/17)
2017 Nov 19, In Australia Malcolm Young (64), AC/DC guitarist and co-founder, died after suffering from dementia for several years.
(AFP, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 23, Australia warned against American disengagement from Asia at a time of rising Chinese power as Canberra outlined its approach to the "Indo-Pacific" region in a 136-page document.
(AP, 11/23/17)
2017 Nov 30, The Australian government bowed to growing pressure by announcing a high-level inquiry into misbehavior in Australia's financial sector.
(AP, 11/30/17)
2017 Dec 1, In Australia Tesla Inc switched on the world's biggest lithium ion battery in time to feed the country’s shaky power grid for the first day of summer, meeting a promise by Elon Musk to build it in 100 days or give it free.
(Reuters, 12/3/17)
2017 Dec 2, In Australia Geoffrey Rush announced he's stepping down as president of the country’s screen industry academy, days after a theater company revealed it had received a complaint against the Oscar-winning actor of "inappropriate behavior."
(AP, 12/2/17)
2017 Dec 5, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull said that foreign interference in politics would be outlawed under updated treason and espionage laws.
(AP, 12/5/17)
2017 Dec 7, Australia's Parliament voted to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter debate settled by a much-criticized government survey of voters that strongly endorsed change.
(AP, 12/7/17)
2017 Dec 8, Gay marriage in Australia became a law as PM Malcolm Turnbull gained a final signature on a bill hours after it was overwhelming endorsed by Parliament.
(AP, 12/9/17)
2017 Dec 8, An Australian judge sentenced Adrian Attwater to at least 14 years in prison for the slaying of Lynette Daley, an Aboriginal woman, who bled to death from a violent sexual assault on a remote beach, closing a six-year battle for justice by the woman's family in a case that exposed Australia's deep racial divide. His co-defendant, Paul Maris, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
(AP, 12/9/17)
2017 Dec 15, The Australian government won a crucial by-election that restored its tenuous grip on power that was threatened by a constitutional ban on dual citizens sitting in Parliament.
(AP, 12/16/17)
2017 Dec 15, An Australian inquiry into child abuse recommended that the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and that priests be prosecuted for failing to report evidence of pedophilia heard in the confessional.
(AP, 12/15/17)
2017 Dec 16, Australian police arrested Chan Han Choi (59), accused of working on the black market to sell missile components and coal on behalf of North Korea. Choi had been living in Australia for more than 30 years and was of Korean descent.
(Reuters, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 16, In Australia two female couples were married in Sydney and Melbourne after being granted permission to waive a 4-week period in the first same-sex weddings under new legislation allowing gay marriages.
(AP, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 21, In Australia a white Suzuki SUV ran a red light in central Melbourne and sped up to slam into pedestrians crossing the road before crashing into a traffic barrier. 19 people were injured. Police said the driver was an Australian citizen (32) of Afghan decent who has a history of drug use and mental health issues.
(AP, 12/21/17)
2017 Dec 23, In Australia Afghan refugee Saeed Noori, accused of deliberately plowing into Christmas shoppers on Dec. 21 on a street in Melbourne, was charged with 18 counts of attempted murder and one count of conduct endangering life.
(Reuters, 12/23/17)
2017 Dec 31, In Australia the chief executive of British catering giant Compass Group Plc and four members of his family were killed when the seaplane they were flying in crashed into the Hawkesbury River in Sydney. All six people on board were killed. In 2021 investigators reported elevated levels of carbon monoxide in their blood due to cracks in the exhaust system of the DHC-2 Beaver plane that was built in 1963.
(AP, 12/31/17)(Reuters, 1/1/18)(AP, 1/29/21)
2017 Tim Winton authored “The Boy Behind the Curtain: Notes from an Australian Life."
(Econ 5/20/17, p.77)
2017 In Australia a British backpacker (22) was kidnapped and repeatedly raped during a monthlong ordeal in the country's Outback. In 2019 Marcus Allyn Keith Martin (25) pleaded guilty in the District Court of Cairns, in the far north of Queensland state, to charges of rape and deprivation of liberty against the woman from Liverpool.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2018 Jan 5, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said Crown-of-thorns starfish are feasting on parts of the reef system, which is already threatened by rising ocean temperatures.
(SFC, 1/6/18, p.A2)
2018 Jan 6, In Australia bushfires destroyed buildings and threatened lives as a heatwave in three states brought temperatures strong enough to melt the bitumen on a highway.
(Reuters, 1/6/18)
2018 Jan 17, Serbian police reported the arrest of three Australian citizens suspected of being part of an international drug-smuggling group. The men were linked to the discovery of 1,280 kg (2,822 pounds) of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese boat docked in Sydney, Australia.
(AP, 1/17/18)
2018 Jan 18, A pair of Australian swimmers became the first people to be rescued in the ocean by a drone when the aerial lifesaver dropped a safety device to distressed teens caught in rough seas.
(AFP, 1/18/18)
2018 Jan 29, Australia’s government announced a strategy to create high-tech jobs and become one of the top 10 defense-industry-exporting countries within a decade through arms sales to liked-minded nations while also keeping those weapons from rogue regimes.
(AP, 1/29/18)
2018 Jan 30, Australia's military said that a fitness tracking application did not breach security despite revelations that an interactive, online map using its data can show troop locations around the world.
(AP, 1/30/18)
2018 Feb 1, Australian secret service officers seized hundreds of classified documents from Australian Broadcasting Corp. bureaus in three cities as part of a probe into how top-secret government papers were mistakenly sold along with two discarded filing cabinets through a secondhand furniture shop.
(AP, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 4, Australia’s South Australia state government said some 50,000 homes will receive solar panels and Tesla batteries, in a landmark plan to turn houses into a giant, interconnected power plant.
(AFP, 2/4/18)
2018 Feb 12, Israel arrested an Australian woman accused of sex crimes against children in her home country. Australia wants Malka Leifer (54) extradited for sexually abusing children while she was a teacher at a local school. An Israeli court had previously stopped extradition proceedings against Leifer after determining she was not fit to stand trial.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 14, Australia's deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was under mounting pressure to resign as his party's leader over revelations of a relationship with a former staffer.
(AP, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 14, An Israeli court ordered Malka Leifer (54), an Australian woman accused of sex crimes in Australia, be placed under psychiatric evaluation until further notice.
(AP, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 15, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull banned government employees from having sex with staff as deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce battled for his political survival following revelations of a relationship with a former staffer.
(SFC, 2/16/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 17, Australia accepted the family of a murdered Cambodian political activist as refugees. Kem Ley's wife and five children arrived in Melbourne, from Thailand. Kem Ley was shot dead in a convenience store in Phnom Penh, in July 2016, and his family escaped to a Thai refugee camp. Australia continues to pay Cambodia to accept refugees that Australia holds in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 18, Tropical Cyclone Kelvin hit the resource-rich north coast of Western Australia, lashing it with strong winds and causing floods that could cut the main highway for up to two weeks.
(Reuters, 2/18/18)
2018 Feb 22, A Serbian court ruled that Australians Tristan Waters and Rohan Arnold, arrested over a $390 million cocaine haul, can be extradited to Australia. A case against a third man in the case, Australian David Campbell, was still pending.
(AP, 2/22/18)
2018 Feb 23, Barnaby Jones, Australia’s beleaguered deputy prime minister, resigned from the Cabinet over allegations that he sexually harassed a woman, but said he would not resign from parliament.
(SFC, 2/24/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 23, In Australia the yacht Finistere was taking part in the 70th Bunbury and Return Ocean Race and had six people aboard when it overturned off Mandurah, south of the state capital Perth just before midnight. Two sailors died.
(AP, 2/24/18)
2018 Feb 27, An Israeli court says Malka Leifer (54), an Australian woman accused of sex crimes, will not be extradited for reasons of mental illness.
(AP, 2/27/18)
2018 Feb 28, Australia issued a compulsory recall for all 2.7 million cars fitted with defective Takata air bags in an effort to lift the auto industry's mixed efforts to fix the fault blamed for at least 23 deaths around the world, including one in Australia.
(AP, 2/28/18)
2018 Mar 2, Australian health authorities said three people have died and 12 others have fallen ill in a national listeria outbreak linked to contaminated rockmelons, also called cantaloupes, and that more cases are expected.
(Reuters, 3/2/18)
2018 Mar 3, In Australia about half a million people lined Sydney's streets to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the first time the annual parade has taken place since Australia legalized same-sex marriage.
(Reuters, 3/3/18)
2018 Mar 3, Australia's smallest state Tasmania began voting in a local assembly election, with the incumbent conservative Liberal Party stirring controversy by promising softer regulations for gun ownership if it is returned to power.
(Reuters, 3/3/18)
2018 Mar 6, Australia and East Timor signed a historic treaty drawing their maritime boundary, ending years of bitter wrangling over billions of dollars of oil and gas riches lying beneath the Timor Sea and opening a new chapter in relations.
(AP, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 8, In Chile 11 nations signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, dropping tariffs and establishing sweeping new rules in markets representing about a seventh of the world's economy. members included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
(SFC, 3/9/18, p.C5)
2018 Mar 14, A father testified in an Australian court that his son said he was sexually abused by Vatican Cardinal George Pell during a waterskiing outing years ago.
(AP, 3/15/18)(SFC, 3/15/18, p.A4)
2018 Mar 17, In Australia Southeast Asian leaders (ASEAN) said they will sign an agreement on regional cooperation against violent extremism as the risk to the region grows due to militants fleeing Islamic State group losses in the Middle East.
(AP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 18, Australia's prime minister and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Sydney called on North Korea to end its nuclear program and urged UN countries to fully implement sanctions against the country.
(AP, 3/18/18)
2018 Mar 18, In northern Australia about 25,000 homes were without power in the city of Darwin after a tropical cyclone felled trees, canceled flights, closed schools and delayed shipping. Bush and grass fires sweeping across Australia's southeast destroyed homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds to flee as dry, hot winds fanned the flames.
(Reuters, 3/18/18)
2018 Mar 18, In Australia a fire began in southern New south Wales and over the next 24 hours consumed 69 homes.
(SFC, 3/20/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 19, An Australian court ruled that food giant Heinz's misled consumers about the health value of Little Kids Shredz products for toddlers, adding that the US firm should have been aware the claims were deceptive. The Shredz products contained over 60 percent sugar, significantly higher than fruit and vegetables.
(AFP, 3/19/18)
2018 Mar 21, In Australia a helicopter carrying American tourists crashed at a coral-viewing site on the Great Barrier Reef, killing two passengers from Hawaii and injuring two others from Colorado.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 22, US Pres. Donald Trump authorized initial exemptions for the EU, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico from looming steel and aluminum tariffs.
(AP, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 23, In western Australia more than 150 whales were found stranded in Hamelin Bay, and only 15 of them were still alive. The mammals are believed to be short-finned pilot whales. Volunteers managed to rescue only five of 150 short-finned pilot whales.
(AP, 3/23/18)(AP, 3/24/18)
2018 Mar 25, The maiden flight of a new non-stop regular passenger service between Australia and Britain touched down at London's Heathrow Airport. The new link with Perth, a 14,498-km (9,009-mile) journey, is around three hours quicker than routes that involve stopovers in the Middle East to change planes or refuel.
(AP, 3/25/18)
2018 Mar 27, Australia and Ireland joined more than 20 other nations in expelling Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack on a former Russian military intelligence officer and his daughter in Britain.
(AP, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 30, Russia ordered new cuts to the number of British envoys in the country, escalating a dispute with the West over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain. Scores of foreign ambassadors streamed into the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow to receive the notices given to 23 nations: Albania, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
(AP, 3/30/18)
2018 Apr 5, An Australian judge ruled that Frenchman Smail Ayad will not be tried for killing two British backpackers at a hostel in Home Hill, Queensland state, in August, 2016, because of mental illness.
(AP, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 28, The Australian Olympic Committee awarded a posthumous Order of Merit to Peter Norman, a record-holding sprinter who supported two Americans in their famous Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
(AP, 4/27/18)
2018 Apr 29, Australia pledged half a billion dollars to restore and protect the Great Barrier Reef in what it said would be a game-changer for the embattled natural wonder, but conservationists were not convinced.
(AFP, 4/29/18)
2018 May 1, An Australian court ruled that Vatican Treasurer George Pell must face trial on charges of historical sexual offences, making him the most senior Catholic official to be tried on such allegations. He pleaded not guilty.
(Reuters, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, French Pres. Emmanuel Macron arrived in Australia on a rare visit, with the two sides expected to agree on greater cooperation in the Pacific to counter a rising China.
(AFP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 4, In Australia Moutia Elzahed (50), the wife of an Islamic State group recruiter, gave the militants' single-finger salute outside a Sydney court after becoming the first person convicted under a new state law criminalizing the refusal to stand for a judge. Her husband Hamdi Alqudsi was sentenced in 2016 to eight years in prison for helping young Australians reach Syria to fight for extremists.
(AP, 5/4/18)
2018 May 8, Australia's conservative government pledged tax cuts for low and middle earners, cheaper beer, and billions of dollars for new roads and rail lines in a pre-election budget.
(AFP, 5/8/18)
2018 May 10, In Switzerland David Goodall, a 104-year-old Australian man, cheerily sang a few bars of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as he told reporters that medically assisted suicide should be more widely available and not only viewed as a last resort for the terminally ill. His death soon followed.
(AP, 5/10/18)
2018 May 11, In Australia a family of seven including four children was found dead with gunshot wounds at a rural property in Osmington village, Western Australia state, in what could be the country's worst mass shooting in 22 years. Farmer Peter Miles (61) was suspected of killing his wife, daughter and four grandchildren before turning the gun on himself.
(AP, 5/11/18)(SFC, 5/15/18, p.A2)
2018 May 14, Australian Steve Plain (36) became the fastest climber to scale the highest peaks in seven continents, taking 117 days for a feat popularly called the "Seven Summits", after he scaled Mount Everest.
(Reuters, 5/15/18)
2018 May 21, Australia's New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro said his state government has decided to legally protect rather than kill thousands of wild horses, known as brumbies, infuriating scientists who argue the feral species is doing severe environmental damage to the country's iconic Snowy Mountains alpine region.
(AP, 5/21/18)
2018 May 22, In Australia Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson (67) became the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse.
(AP, 5/22/18)
2018 May 25, The Netherlands and Australia announced they were holding Moscow legally responsible for its role in the July 17, 2014, missile attack and downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine nearly four years ago.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 31, Australia's Social Services Minister Dan Tehan said four in five victims of child sexual abuse in Australian institutions will be eligible for compensation after three churches, the Scouts movement and the YMCA joined a federal government redress plan.
(AP, 5/31/18)
2018 May 31, A cargo ship lost 83 containers over-board during heavy seas off Australia. Items including nappies and sanitary pads soon began washing up on beaches amid fears the ill-fated containers will pose a hazard for shipping and whales.
(AP, 6/2/18)
2018 Jun 3, Pope Francis nominated Gregory O'Kelly, the Bishop of Port Pirie, as special administrator to the Australian archdiocese of Adelaide after its head was found guilty last month of concealing child sex abuse by a priest.
(Reuters, 6/3/18)
2018 Jun 4, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's largest bank, said it has agreed to pay a 700 million Australian dollar ($531 million) fine for failing to comply with measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
(AP, 6/4/18)
2018 Jun 5, Australia laid cartel charges against banking companies Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and ANZ plus six bank executives over the sale of 2.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.9 billion) in ANZ shares to institutional investors three years ago.
(AP, 6/5/18)
2018 Jun 5, Renowned Australian playwright David Williamson (76) said that he is disappointed Chinese censors have canceled a production of his play "The Removalists" for the official reason that it contains bad language and violence. He said some involved in the production suspect the true reason the classic Australian play was banned was its depiction of police abusing their authority.
(AP, 6/5/18)
2018 Jun 6, In Australia the body of Wachira "Mario" Phetmang (33) of Thailand was discovered by a truck driver bound, gagged, wrapped in plastic and covered in a mattress protector. In 2019 Alex Dion (38) was extradited from the US and charged with murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/y29u8n9x)(AP, 4/14/19)
2018 Jun 9, Australia said it has established a security task force to guard against cyber attacks and interference in elections, amid concerns foreign powers are meddling in domestic affairs and ahead of five elections next month.
(Reuters, 6/9/18)
2018 Jun 21, Australia's Senate passed personal income tax cuts worth 144 billion Australian dollars ($106 billion) over a decade. The tax cuts for most of Australia's workforce were a centerpiece of PM Malcolm Turnbull's annual budget plans revealed in May.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 21, Australian developer Sebastian Monsour was charged with investment fraud. Monsour is CEO of the Majella Group, which is buying Maine's Saddleback Mountain ski resort. He was arrested after a raid on his offices in his home country.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 25, Australia said that it would negotiate a security treaty with Vanuatu, weeks after the Australian prime minister warned China against building a military base in the South Pacific island nation.
(AP, 6/25/18)
2018 Jun 26, Australia's House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved national security legislation that would ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics and make industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime.
(AP, 6/26/18)
2018 Jun 28, Australia's Parliament passed sweeping national security legislation that bans covert foreign interference in domestic politics, makes industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime and offends China, the nation's most important trading partner.
(AP, 6/28/18)
2018 Jun 29, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Melbourne's Archbishop Denis Hart (77), who said he'd prefer jail to telling civil authorities about any sex abuse of children that might be revealed to him in the confessional.
(AP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jul 3, In Australia Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention for covering up child sex abuse and ordered to serve at least six months before being eligible for parole.
(SFC, 7/3/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 12, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson made an historic apology to indigenous people who are overrepresented in prisons and vowed to improve race relations.
(AP, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 19, Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull called on Pope Francis to fire Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson (67), who is the most senior Roman Catholic cleric ever convicted for covering up child sexual abuse.
(AP, 7/19/18)
2018 Jul 27, Australian researchers said thousands of aborigines are estimated to have been murdered in 500 massacres across Australia from European settlement in 1788 until the mid-20th century.
(Reuters, 7/27/18)
2018 Jul 28, Australia's conservative government failed to win any of five by-elections, defeats widely seen as an indication PM Malcolm Turnbull faces an uphill battle to be re-elected in a national poll due by May 2019.
(Reuters, 7/29/18)
2018 Jul 30, The Vatican accepted the resignation of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson (67), the most senior cleric found guilty of concealing child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. The archbishop of Adelaide was convicted in May of failing to disclose to police abuse by a priest, Father James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976.
(Reuters, 7/30/18)
2018 Jul 31, In Australia Agim Kruezi (25), an extremist who planned a suicide attack with Molotov cocktails after he was prevented from flying to Syria to fight, was sentenced by an judge to 17 years and four months in prison, with a non-parole period of 13 years.
(AP, 7/31/18)
2018 Jul, In Australia Priscilla Brooten (46), a keen computer gamer from California, was last seen in the Brisbane suburb of Bracken Ridge, but was not reported missing until December.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2018 Aug 4, Indonesian police arrested Australian Brandon Johnson (43) and his Indonesian girlfriend at a rented room in the tourist hotspot of Kuta on Bali Island. Police reportedly found 11.6 grams of cocaine packed into 13 plastic bags. Johnson faced between five and 20 years in prison if found guilty.
(AP, 8/9/18)
2018 Aug 5, Australia announced a A$190 million ($140.56 million) aid package for drought-afflicted farmers as much of east coast suffers the worst dry spell in living memory.
(Reuters, 8/5/18)
2018 Aug 9, An Australian minister said five former dual nationals have been stripped of their citizenship due to their involvement with the Islamic State group overseas. A total of six people have now lost their Australian citizenship since the law was changed in 2015 to enable dual nationals to lose their citizenship rights for actions contrary to their allegiance to Australia.
(AP, 8/9/18)
2018 Aug 14, In Australia Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone ordered former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, most senior Roman Catholic cleric convicted of covering up child sex abuse, to be detained at his sister's house for at least 6 months before he is eligible for parole.
(AP, 8/14/18)
2018 Aug 15, Australian senator Fraser Anning was condemned for his speech in Parliament advocating reviving a white-only immigration policy and using the term "final solution" in calling for a vote on which migrants to admit into the country.
(AP, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 16, In Australia Paul Bradshaw (74), a man with terminal cancer, said he could die happy after reaching a 1 million Australian dollar ($727,000) landmark settlement against the Catholic Irish Christian Brothers for sexual abuse he suffered more than 50 years ago at the hands of Brothers Lawrence Murphy, Bruno Doyle and Christopher Angus, who are all dead.
(AP, 8/16/18)
2018 Aug 21, Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull called on his government to unite behind him after he survived an internal leadership challenge.
(AP, 8/21/18)
2018 Aug 24, In Australia disgruntled government lawmakers forced PM Malcolm Turnbull from office, arguing that most had lost faith in his leadership. New PM Scott Morrison promised a stable government. The push to oust Turnbull, led by fellow lawmaker Peter Dutton over four chaotic days, was inspired by a feud between hard-right conservatives and moderates.
(AP, 8/24/18)
2018 Aug 31, Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election that could bring down the unpopular conservative government.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, The Catholic church in Australia said it would oppose laws forcing priests to report child abuse when they learn about it in the confessional, setting the stage for a showdown between the country's biggest religion and the government. Two of Australia's eight states and territories have introduced laws making it a crime for priests to withhold information about abuse heard in the confessional.
(Reuters, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, In Cambodia Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, arrested after flying a drone to photograph an opposition party rally last year, was convicted of spying and sentenced to six years in prison.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, In Indonesia Australia's new PM Morrison met President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in his first trip overseas since becoming leader. Morrison said they would sign an agreement by the end of the year that aims to boost trade and investment.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Sep 3, Scientists in Australia warned that a superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause "severe" infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world. The bacteria, known as Staphylococcus epidermidis, is related to the better-known and more deadly MRSA.
(AFP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 9, Australian police found up to five dead people including a woman and children in a suburb of the western city of Perth. In 2019 Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in Perth.
(Reuters, 9/9/18)(AP, 4/24/19)
2018 Sep 15, The Australian state of Queensland offered a A$100,000 ($71,500) reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for sabotaging strawberries with sewing needles.
(Reuters, 9/15/18)
2018 Sep 15, In Australia a man (23) and a woman (21) died after collapsing at the Defqon.1 music festival in Sydney. A dozen more were hospitalized and hundreds others sought medical assistance after suspected drug overdoses.
(Reuters, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 17, Public fears about sewing needles concealed inside strawberries on supermarket shelves spread across Australia and New Zealand. Needles were reported found in strawberries in all six Australian states.
(AP, 9/17/18)
2018 Sep 21, Cambodia granted a royal pardon to Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, who was sentenced last month to six years in prison on spying charges in a trial widely criticized as unfair.
(AP, 9/21/18)
2018 Sep 23, In Australia a Fisheries Queensland spokesman said four large sharks have been killed after a woman and a 12-year-old girl were attacked in separate incidents just a day apart last week at the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
(AFP, 9/23/18)
2018 Sep 27, The chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. resigned over allegations that he pressured the independent national broadcaster to fire two political journalists because the ruling conservative government disliked them.
(AP, 9/27/18)
2018 Sep 28, A US diplomat said the United States, Japan and Australia are cooperating on a domestic internet cable proposal for Papua New Guinea as an alternative to an offer by Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant that the United States regards as a cybersecurity threat.
(AP, 9/28/18)
2018 Oct 12, In Australia Chinese property developer Xu Longwei was sentenced to at least two-and-a-half years in jail by a court for non-consensual intercourse with a woman after a Sydney dinner party hosted by billionaire JD.com-founder Richard Liu.
(Reuters, 10/12/18)
2018 Oct 20, Australia's ruling coalition was forced into minority government after a massive swing against its senior partner, the Liberal Party, in a by-election for the seat of the prime minister the party itself had dismissed.
(AP, 10/20/18)
2018 Oct 22, Australia's PM Scott Morrison delivered a formal apology to the victims of child sex abuse, saying the nation must acknowledge their long, painful journey and its failure to protect them.
(AP, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 27, In Australia protesters rallied in Sydney and Melbourne calling for an end to the country's controversial South Pacific detention centers which house refugees who try to reach Australia by boat. Particular focus was directed toward the wellbeing of children on the tiny island nation of Nauru. More than 1,400 people are being held on the Australian-run detention centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea, some for years.
(Reuters, 10/27/18)
2018 Oct 31, In Greece John Macris (46), a Greek-Australian married to a model who appeared on a Greek reality TV show, was shot and killed as he left his home in Voula in his car this evening in a seaside suburb of Athens. Australian media have described Macris as having been involved in Sydney's organized crime scene.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 1, Australia announced it will invest in redeveloping a Papua New Guinea naval base as concerns mount over increasing Chinese influence in the South Pacific.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 1, Australia said it aims to remove all asylum seeker children from Nauru within two months as concerns escalate about their deteriorating health after languishing on the tiny Pacific atoll nation for up to five years.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 5, In Australia a shark killed Daniel Christidis (33) near Cid Harbor on Whitsunday Island on the Great Barrier Reef where two tourists were mauled on consecutive days in September.
(AP, 11/6/18)
2018 Nov 8, Australia launched a multi-billion dollar fund to counter China's rising influence in the region. PM Scott Morrison said Australia would invest in telecommunications, energy, transport and water projects in the region.
(Reuters, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 8, In Australia former New South Wales (NSW) state Labor party leader Luke Foley resigned after being accused of sexually harassing an ABC journalist, four months before a state election he had been in a position to win. Foley denied the allegations and said he has hired lawyers to sue for defamation over the claims.
(AP, 11/9/18)
2018 Nov 8, Tesla's board named one of its own as chairman to replace Elon Musk, complying with terms of a fraud settlement with US securities regulators. The company's board named Australian telecommunications executive Robyn Denholm (55) as chairman, effective immediately.
(AP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, In Australia Somali-born Hassan Khalif Shire Ali (30) set fire to a pickup truck laden with gas cylinders in the center of Melbourne and stabbed three people, killing one, before he was shot by police in a rampage they called an act of terrorism. Police said he was radicalized and inspired by the militant group's propaganda.
(Reuters, 11/9/18)(Reuters, 11/10/18)
2018 Nov 11, In Australia My Ut Trinh (50), a former strawberry farm supervisor, was arrested and charged with seven counts of contaminating goods after a "complex" investigation into a strawberry scare where needles were found stuck into the fruit. She was accused of retaliating over a workplace grievance.
(AP, 11/11/18)(SFC, 11/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Nov 16, In Australia Shinzo Abe became the first prime minister of Japan to visit Darwin since the northern city was bombed by Japanese forces in World War II, as he and PM Scott Morrison spoke of strengthening defense and other ties between their countries ahead of the APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea.
(AP, 11/16/18)
2018 Nov 17, An Australia man went into cardiac arrest at Lauderdale Beach, east of Hobart in Tasmania, after he suffered a stingray puncture wound to his lower abdomen.
(AP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 17, Speaking in Papua New Guinea US Vice President Mike Pence said the United States will join Pacific ally Australia to build a naval base on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
(Reuters, 11/17/18)
2018 Nov 18, At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Papua New Guinea, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the US and Papua New Guinea signed an electrification agreement to bring electricity to 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's people by 2030.
(AP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 19, In Australia shareholders gave final approval to the merger of television network Nine Entertainment and newspaper publisher Fairfax Media into an Australian media giant to be known only as Nine despite one shareholder's late bid to stop the deal.
(AP, 11/19/18)
2018 Nov 20, In Australia three men were charged with planning a mass-casualty attack in Melbourne. Hanifi Holis (21), and brothers Samed (26) and Ertune (30) Eriklioglu were arrested in a pre-dawn raid on their homes.
(SFC, 11/21/18, p.A2)
2018 Nov 27, Thailand detained soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi, who held refugee status in Australia, upon his entry at Bangkok's airport on a holiday with his wife. He was held legally following a request from Bahrain's government. He had fled Bahrain four years ago.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Nov 28, Large swaths of northeast Australia endured unprecedented fire danger with 138 wildfires across Queensland state forcing schools to be closed and thousands of homes to be evacuated.
(AP, 11/28/18)
2018 Nov 30, Thousands of Australian students skipped school to join nationwide protests demanding government action on climate change.
(AFP, 11/30/18)
2018 Nov, In Australia two conjoined girls from Bhutan were separated by a team of 25 surgeons, nurses and anesthetists in an operation at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital that lasted almost six hours. Twenty-month-old Nima and Dawa returned to Bhutan after a 22-hour flight from Melbourne with their mother, four months after their operation.
(AP, 3/7/19)
2018 Dec 5, The Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace recorded nearly 19,000 deaths last year in its annual Global Terrorism Index. That is a decrease of 27 percent from a year earlier and down 44 percent from a peak in 2014.
(AP, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 6, An Australian appeal court overturned a conviction against Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson (68), the most senior Roman Catholic cleric ever found guilty of covering up child sex abuse.
(AP, 12/6/18)
2018 Dec 7, ABC News reported that a 28-year-old Australian man will spend five months in prison for brutally killing a kangaroo in an attack filmed and posted on social media. Ricky Ian Swan was one of four men charged in September with using weapons to torture and kill two kangaroos.
(Reuters, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 8, Australian school children led thousands of demonstrators nationwide calling for a halt on plans for Indian mining firm Adani to construct a controversial coal mine in the country's northeast.
(AFP, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 9, The Australian government called for Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australian-based refugee soccer player, to be immediately released from detention in Thailand.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 9, Iran state media said Australian-based academic has been detained on charges of trying to "infiltrate" Iranian institutions. Hosseini-Chavoshi, a population expert, is affiliated with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
(Reuters, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 11, An Australian court sentenced a Sydney teenager (18) to at least 12 years in prison for planning an attack inspired by the Islamic State group in 2016.
(AP, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 11, An Australian court found Cardinal George Pell (77), one of the highest ranking Vatican officials and a former top adviser to Pope Francis, guilty on five charges of child sexual offences committed more than two decades ago against 13-year-old boys. The verdict was only made public on Feb. 26, 2019.
(Reuters, 2/26/19)
2018 Dec 15, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said his country now formally recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reversing decades of Middle East policy, but will not move its embassy there immediately. The Palestinian leadership described as "irresponsible" Australia's recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying it violated international law.
(Reuters, 12/15/18)(AFP, 12/15/18)
2018 Dec 22, Human rights groups along with current and former soccer players on called on FIFA and the Australian government to intervene to stop the extradition of Hakeem al-Araibi, a Melbourne-based refugee and semi-professional soccer player, from Thailand to Bahrain.
(AP, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 24, In Australia some 3,000 people were evacuated from a 36-story Sydney high-rise when cracking was heard and an internal support wall failed at the newly opened Opal Tower overlooking Olympic Park.
(AP, 12/25/18)
2018 Dec 29, Australia said it stripped Neil Prakash, a suspected militant held in Turkey, of citizenship because he fought for the Islamic State group. He became the 12th person to be stripped of Australian citizenship because of militant links, based on a 2007 law.
(AP, 12/29/18)
2018 Former Hutu rebels Leonidas Bimenyimana and Gregoire Nyaminani spent more than a decade in a Virginia state jail before Australia accepted them.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 Jan 4, An Australian man (24) rammed his four-wheel drive into a Sydney police car, hijacked a supermarket delivery truck and taxi, rammed other cars and stabbed and wounded a passerby before killing himself in front of police.
(Reuters, 1/4/19)
2019 Jan 7, It was reported that injury has forced Australian activist Mina Guli (48) to stop her effort to complete 100 marathons in 100 days as a way to highlight the importance of conserving water. Guli had run and walked 62 marathons on several continents, but in South Africa she was diagnosed with multiple stress fractures in her right femur.
(AP, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 9, Australian police late today arrested Savas Avan (48) after 38 packages allegedly containing asbestos were sent to foreign consulates in the cities of Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.
(AP, 1/10/19)
2019 Jan 15, An Australian state government announced plans to mechanically pump oxygen into lakes and rivers after hundreds of thousands of fish died in heatwave conditions. Up to a million dead fish were found floating last week in the Darling River in western New South Wales. 1,800 more rotting fish had since been found in Lake Hume in the state's south.
(AP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 16, In Australia Aiia Maasarwe (21), an exchange student from Shanghai University in China, was attacked shortly after stepping off from a tram in the suburb of Bundoora. Codey Herrmann (20), an aspiring rapper, was soon charged with murder and rape in the death of the Israeli student.
(AP, 1/19/19)
2019 Jan 17, In Australia the body of Monika Billen, a 62-year-old German tourist, was found beneath a tree in the searing heat of the central Outback, eight days after she was reported missing.
(AP, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 19, Yang Hengjun (53), a Chinese-Australian writer and visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, was detained upon at Guangzhou Airport. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying later said that Yang, a former Chinese diplomat and critic of China's Communist Party, was "suspected of engaging in criminal activities endangering China's national security".
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Jan 23, The Australian government said it is seeking information about Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian novelist and influential online commentator, who has been reported missing in China.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Jan 24, Adelaide sweltered through the hottest day ever recorded by a major Australian city as the temperature peaked at 115.9 degrees F.
(SFC, 1/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Jan 24, China said it has detained Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian writer, for allegedly "endangering China's national security," a vague charge frequently leveled at critics of the ruling Communist Party.
(AP, 1/24/19)
2019 Jan 25, Melbourne, Australia, recorded its hottest day in five years. The temperature reached 42.8 C (109 F) with the airport recording 46 C (114.8 F).
(AP, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 26, In Australia Japan's Naomi Osaka battled past Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-4 to win her first Australian Open crown and become the new world number one.
(AFP, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 26, Tens of thousands of people rallied across Australia calling for the abolition of the Jan. 26 national holiday in protests showing a deep division over a festivity intended to celebrate the birth of modern Australia. The anniversary marks the 1788 arrival of the "First Fleet" of British ships at Sydney Cove. Many indigenous Australians regard it as "Invasion Day".
(Reuters, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 29, Australian company TPG Telecom said it had abandoned the rollout of what would have been the country's fourth mobile network because of a ban on Chinese giant Huawei, which would have been the main equipment vendor.
(AP, 1/29/19)
2019 Feb 3, Australia announced that the last four child refugees held on the Pacific atoll of Nauru will soon be sent to the United States, ending the banishment of children under the government's harsh asylum-seeker policy.
(AP, 2/3/19)
2019 Feb 4, In northern Australia emergency workers used boats and helicopters to rescue people from flooded areas where forecasts call for more heavy rainfall.
(AP, 2/4/19)
2019 Feb 5, In Australia floodwater receded in Townsville, but overnight monsoonal rain created flash-flooding in communities to the north where authorities have warned residents to move to higher ground. Two bodies were reportedly found near a drain in the flood-stricken city of Townsville.
(AP, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 8, Australian police said they have arrested six people over the last 24 hours after what authorities said was the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in the United States and the biggest drug haul bound for Australia. US Customs and Border Protection said 1,728 kg (3,800 pounds) of the drug were seized mid-January at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex along with smaller amounts of cocaine and heroin.
(AP, 2/8/19)(SFC, 2/9/19, p.A5)
2019 Feb 8, In Australia a cyberattack on Parliament's computing network also affected the network used by major political parties. PM Scott Morrison later said a "sophisticated state actor" was behind the attack.
(AP, 2/18/19)
2019 Feb 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison described his government as stronger on national security than the opposition after signing an agreement with the French government to deliver a fleet of submarines and ahead of federal elections expected to be held in May.
(AP, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 13, The Australian government said it would reopen the mothballed Christmas Island detention camp in anticipation of a new wave of asylum seekers arriving by boat after Parliament passed legislation that would give sick asylum seekers easier access to mainland hospitals.
(AP, 2/13/19)
2019 Feb 15, The Pacific island nation of Nauru posted a new rule not allowing doctors to remotely recommend the medical transfer of asylum seekers to Australia. The new rule could thwart an easing of Australia's hardline immigration policy.
(AP, 2/19/19)
2019 Feb 27, In Australia George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex abuse, was sent to prison and will wait two weeks to learn his sentence for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral two decades ago.
(AP, 2/27/19)
2019 Feb 27, A court in Bali has sentenced Australian Brandon Johnson and his Indonesian girlfriend Remi Purwanti to five years and four months in prison each for possessing cocaine.
(AP, 2/27/19)
2019 Mar 3, In Australia firefighters battled 25 blazes across the state of Victoria as a record-breaking heatwave delivered the hottest start to March on record for the southern third of the country.
(Reuters, 3/3/19)
2019 Mar 4, Indonesia and Australia signed a free trade agreement in Jakarta that will eliminate many tariffs, allow Australian-owned hospitals to operate in the giant Southeast Asian country and increase work visas for young Indonesians.
(AP, 3/4/19)
2019 Mar 13, In Australia Cardinal George Pell, who in past years attended the retreat as Francis' finance minister, was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two youths in the 1990s. Pell must serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months before he is eligible for parole. He planned to appeal.
(AP, 3/13/19)
2019 Mar 23, Cyclone Trevor made landfall along a remote stretch of the northern Australian coast, bringing fierce winds and heavy rains amid safety fears for a small number of residents who've stayed in the area. Meanwhile Cyclone Veronica, another category 4 system, was expected to cross the northwest Australian coast late today.
(AP, 3/23/19)
2019 Mar 27, Australia's top cyberwarrior revealed that his country actively participated in the electronic war against the Islamic State group in Syria, degrading their communications during military operations and actively stopping people seeking to join the extremist group.
(AP, 3/27/19)
2019 Mar 28, In Australia Saeed Noori (37), an Islamic State group sympathizer, was sentenced to life in prison. He had rammed a car into pedestrians on a busy Melbourne sidewalk on Dec. 21, 2017, killing one person and injuring 16 others.
(AP, 3/28/19)
2019 Mar 30, In Australia two Japanese teenagers were found dead in Lake McKenzie after being reported missing from a school tour.
(AP, 3/30/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, Australia's Parliament passed legislation that could imprison social media executives if their platforms stream real violence such as the New Zealand mosque shootings.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Australia Dutchman Wiebe Wakker completed an epic 95,000 km (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 8, Australian police arrested 38 animal rights activists after they blocked peak hour traffic in Melbourne in protests to mark the first anniversary of a film, Dominion, about factory farming.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison called a May 18 election that will be fought on issues including climate change, asylum seekers and economic management.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward an actress.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Australia a drive-by shooting outside a popular Melbourne nightclub early today left one man dead, another critically wounded and two others injured.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 21, Two rescuers drowned off the coast of Australia's Victoria state when their boat flipped over during an attempt to help a man who was swept into the ocean from a rock ledge.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Australia Anthony Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in the west coast city of Perth last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 May 1, An Australian jury convicted Khaled Khayat (51) of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways airliner on a flight in 2017 from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 3, In Australia the Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher ordered Islamic State group sympathizer and firebrand preacher Robert "Musa" Cerantonio to serve at least five years and three months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Cerantonio and five other men had plotted in 2016 to take a 7-meter (23-foot) half-cabin fiberglass power boat off the northeast Queensland coast to encourage others to overthrow the government in the southern Philippines and install Sharia Law.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 9, In Australia three Sunni Muslim men were convicted of engaging in a terror act by burning down a Shiite mosque in the city of Melbourne on Dec. 11, 2016.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Australia's central bank took responsibility for typos on 46 million bank notes after a radio station posted an image of the microscopic error on social media. The word “responsibility" appears three times on the note and the third "i'' is omitted every time.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 13, A group of islanders off Australia's north coast filed a human rights complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government over inaction on climate change, which they say is threatening their homes. Torres Strait Islanders are part of Australia's indigenous population.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 16, Bob Hawke )89), Australia's longest-serving Labor Party prime minister, died. He won four terms as prime minister, serving from 1983 to 1991 before being ousted by his own center-left party when the economy soured. His charisma and powers of persuasion earned him near-folk hero status among many Australians.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 18, Australia held general elections. The ruling conservative coalition appeared on its way to a surprise win, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power. Former PM Tony Abbott, infamous for once calling the science behind climate change "crap", became the first big scalp in the country's elections, losing his seat of Warringah in Sydney's northern suburbs. PM Scott Morrison’s Liberal-led conservative coalition won or led in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government.
(AP, 5/18/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 20, In Australia figures from the Electoral Commission showed that with around 84% of votes counted, the conservative coalition of PM Scott Morrison was on target to win 78 seats — an increase of five after going into the election as a minority government.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 23, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush was awarded an Australian record of 2.9 million Australian dollars ($2 million) damages by a Sydney judge in defamation case against a newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, International police group Interpol said that nine people had been arrested in Thailand, Australia and the US and 50 children had been rescued after investigators took down an online pedophilia ring.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 29, Australian teenager Will Connolly )17), who cracked an egg on the head of Sen. Fraser Anning for his remarks about the New Zealand mosque massacre, donated almost $70,000 to people affected by the killings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May, Rugby star Israel Folau, a devout Christian, was fired after a Rugby Australia tribunal found him guilty of "high-level" misconduct for posting on social media that "hell awaits" gay people and others he considers sinners. On June 24 a crowdfunding campaign for his legal fees was shut down.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Australia a man who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage in the northern city of Darwin.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 5, Australia's Federal Police raided the offices of the national public broadcaster in connection to a 2017 story based on leaked military documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 7, Australian officials said they have seized the nation's largest haul of methamphetamine at the Melbourne waterfront, nearly 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of the illegal drug hidden in stereo speakers shipped from Bangkok.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 14, New Hampshire's highest court ruled that a Christian Science church in Australia cannot sue trusts created following the 1910 death of Christian Science movement founder Mary Baker Eddy.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Australia new laws went into effect in the state of Victoria making voluntary euthanasia legal under closely specified circumstances.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 25, A Christian group crowdfunded more than Aus$l.0 million ($700,000) in a single day for former Australian rugby star Israel Folau's legal battle to appeal against his sacking over homophobic comments.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 26, Australia's three largest media organizations joined forces to demand legal reforms that would prevent journalists from risking imprisonment for doing their jobs.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jul 1, In Australia former soldier David Hurley was sworn in as governor-general, a day before Parliament resumes for the first time since the May election.
(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jul 2, Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 1% in a bid to boost the economy.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 2, In Australia three men were arrested over an Islamic State group-inspired plot to attack a variety of Sydney targets including police and defense buildings, courts, churches and diplomatic missions.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 4, Australian student Alek Sigley (29), released after a week in detention in North Korea, arrived in Tokyo after telling reporters he was in "very good" condition, without saying what happened to him.
(AP, 7/4/19)
2019 Jul 6, North Korea said that Australian student Alek Sigley, who it detained for a week, had spread anti-Pyongyang propaganda and engaged in spying by providing photos and other materials to news outlets with critical views toward the North.
(AP, 7/6/19)
2019 Jul 19, The US Department of Transportation (DOT) granted American Airlines Group Inc and Qantas Airways Ltd final approval to operate a joint venture after a prior effort was rejected in 2016.
(Reuters, 7/19/19)
2019 Jul 23, Australia-based BHP, a leading resources company, said it will invest $400 million over five years to reduce emissions, becoming the first miner to pledge to tackle pollution caused when customers use its products.
(Reuters, 7/23/19)
2019 Jul 29, In Australia hundreds of protesters rallied outside Parliament House highlighting the uncertain futures of many refugees since the government replaced permanent protection visas with temporary visas.
(AP, 7/29/19)
2019 Aug 9, Australia's Home Affairs minister asked police to exhaust all avenues before conducting more searches of journalists, after criticism over the raid of an editor's home and the offices of the national broadcaster.
(Reuters, 8/9/19)
2019 Aug 13, In Australia Mert Ney (21) was wrestled to the ground by three British men after he yelled "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and wounded one woman and attempted to stab others in Sidney. He had already allegedly stabbed one woman (21) to death in a nearby apartment. Police said he had a history of mental health issues.
(The Telegraph, 8/13/19)(SFC, 8/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 21, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has agreed to a request from the United States to join a coalition of countries protecting oil tankers and cargo ships from threats posed by Iran in the Straits of Hormuz.
(Reuters, 8/21/19)
2019 Aug 23, In China Yang Hengjun (53), a Chinese-born Australian writer, was formally arrested on suspicion of espionage. The former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger has been held in China since January amid growing diplomatic tension between Canberra and Beijing.
(AP, 8/27/19)
2019 Aug 25, Australian officials said the government will block access to internet domains hosting terrorist material during crisis events and will consider legislation to force digital platforms to improve the safety of their services.
(Reuters, 8/25/19)
2019 Aug 28, Australia announced that it has formed a task force to crack down on attempts by foreign governments to meddle in Australian universities.
(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 29, A dramatic late-night call from an Australian judge to a plane bound for Sri Lanka temporarily spared a family of four -- including two Aussie-born toddlers -- from deportation and fueled a political firestorm Down Under.
(AFP, 8/30/19)
2019 Aug 30, Australia downgraded the Great Barrier Reef's long-term outlook to "very poor" for the first time, as the world heritage site struggles with "escalating" climate change.
(The Telegraph, 8/30/19)
2019 Aug 30, Australia announced an new maritime security agreement with East Timor in which the fledgeling democracy will gain naval infrastructure and an undersea internet link with the world as China increases its influence in the region.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 6, It was reported that Australia is facing skyrocketing rates of opioid prescriptions and related deaths.
(SFC, 9/6/19, p.A4)
2019 Sep 7, Australian firefighters battled strong winds and fast-moving blazes as they worked to contain out-of-control bushfires that have destroyed at least 21 homes across two states on the country's east coast.
(Reuters, 9/7/19)
2019 Sep 8, Australian firefighters battled more than 100 bushfires across two eastern states as authorities warned that parts of the country could expected a severe bushfire season this summer.
(Reuters, 9/8/19)
2019 Sep 11, Australia's government and media said two women who are dual British-Australian citizens and an Australian man have been detained in Iran, one of them sentenced to 10 years in prison. A British-Australian blogger and her Australian boyfriend were detained 10 weeks ago while traveling through Asia. The Times newspaper in London reported that a British-Australian academic who studied at Cambridge University and was lecturing at an Australian university was detained separately and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
(AP, 9/11/19)
2019 Sep 18, Indonesia sent nine containers with at least 135 tons of waste back to Australia after discovering that they were contaminated with used plastic and hazardous materials. 547 containers were to be returned to wealthy nations.
(SFC, 9/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 20, President Donald Trump held his second State Dinner, in honor of Australian PM Scott Morrison. The dinner followed a day of meetings and a joint press conference with Morrison, a like-minded conservative leader. Trump's only other State Dinner Trump has hosted was for French President Emmanuel Macron in April 2018.
(AP, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 21, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said his country will invest A$150 million ($101 million) in its companies and technology to help US President Donald Trump's bid for a moon landing by 2024 and subsequent US missions to Mars.
(Reuters, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 26, Australia's state of New South Wales decriminalized abortion. It became the last jurisdiction in the country to revise blanket penalties enacted decades ago.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 2, An Israeli court ordered Malka Leifer, a former educator accused of sexually abusing her students in Australia, released on house arrest while she fights extradition proceedings.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 3, Paleontologists said fossils of the pterosaur, named Ferrodraco lentoni, were unearthed in the Australian state of Queensland. The creature, which lived about 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, boasted a 13-foot (4-meter) wingspan, a bony crest at the tip of its upper and lower jaws and spike-shaped teeth perfect for a diet of fish.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 5, Australian travel-blogging couple Jolie King and Mark Firkin, held in Iran on spying charges, returned home after being freed. Hours later state media in Tehran said Iranian student Reza Dehbashi, held in Australia for 13 months on accusations of circumventing US sanctions on military equipment, had also been released and returned home.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 20, Australia's Qantas airline completed the first nonstop commercial flight from New York to Sydney. The flight lasted 19 hours and16 minutes.
(SFC, 10/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 25, It was reported that Australia has banned climbers on Uluru, one of the country's landmarks that is sacred to its indigenous custodians. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, formerly known as Ayers Rock, will become permanently off limits to climbers from Oct. 26 after a decades-long fight by the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 27, Australia’s most notorious serial killer, who murdered at least seven people including two British tourists, has died in prison. Ivan Milat was convicted in 1996 of the murders of seven backpackers. Milat, who inspired the horror film Wolf Creek, was successfully prosecuted in part due to the testimony of British backpacker Paul Onions, who escaped from the murderer in 1990.
(The Telegraph, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 29, An Australian judge sentenced Codey Herrmann (21) to 36 years in prison for the January 16 murder and rape of Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe, whom he bludgeoned into unconsciousness moments after she stepped off a tram in Melbourne before setting her corpse on fire.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Australian Border Force agents discovered 881 pounds of meth hidden in a shipment of Sriracha hot sauce that arrived in the country from the US. The estimated street cost in Australia was $300 million. Four people were soon arrested.
(Insider, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 4, Australia, Japan and the US announced their "Blue Dot Network" an alternative to China's Bridge and Road Initiative (BRI).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dot_Network)(Econ., 7/6/20, p.33)
2019 Nov 9, Australian authorities said three people have died, four are missing and at least 150 homes have been destroyed as bushfires rage across eastern Australia.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, In Australia Kumanjayi Walker (19) was fatally shot by Officer Zachary Rolfe. Kumanjayi had stabbed Constable Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of scissors during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu. In 2022 Rolfe was found not guilty in the teen's killing.
(https://tinyurl.com/krnanmcu)(SFC, 3/12/22, p.A3)
2019 Nov 10, Australian firefighters raced to contain widespread bushfires that have left three people dead, and warned of "catastrophic" fire conditions ahead, including around the country's biggest city of Sydney.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Australia dozens of wild fires burned across broad swaths of the country's east and west as firefighters scrambled to shore up defenses ahead of hotter weather and stronger winds expected to bring more danger in the coming days. The death toll was now at four as about 60 fires burned in New South Wales.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 24, China denied the explosive clims of a self-confessed spy seeking asylum in Australia. Newspapers reported that Chinese defector Wang Liqiang has given Australia’s counterespionage agency intelligence on how Beijing conducts its interference operations abroad and revealed the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong.
(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 4, Australia's conservative government repealed a contentious law that allowed ill asylum-seekers languishing in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru to travel to the country for medical treatment. More than 460 people remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 5, The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) issued a joint statement saying three people have been charged with importing 1,633 kg (3,600 lbs.) of methamphetamine and heroin into Australia by hiding them inside of stereo speakers originating from Bangkok, Thailand.
(Insider, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 6, Australian firefighters said a giant bushfire on the edge of Sydney, which has blanketed the city in smoke causing a spike in respiratory illnesses and the cancellation of outdoor sports, will take weeks to control but will not be extinguished without heavy rains.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Australia smoke from wildfires engulfed the city of Sydney. People were advised to stay indoors and avoid all outdoor activity.
(SFC, 12/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 15, The UN Secretary General said global efforts to tackle climate change have stalled due to a lack of ambition, as the COP25 conference in Madrid drew to a close with a watered-down agreement. Brazil, Australia and the United States were singled out for their refusal to compromise on their own emissions targets.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 17, Australia experienced its hottest day on record and temperatures were expected to soar even higher as heatwave conditions embrace most of the country. The average temperature across the country of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) beat the record of 40.3 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) from Jan. 7, 2013.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 19, Australia's most populous state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of emergency as oppressive conditions fanned around 100 wildfires.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 21, Australia’s most populous state (New South Wales) was paralyzed by “catastrophic" fire conditions amid soaring temperatures, while one person died as wildfires ravaged the country’s southeast. The devastation has put pressure on PM Scott Morrison, who has received criticism for going on a family vacation in Hawaii during the wildfire crisis.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 22, Australian PM Scott Morrison apologized Sunday for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 27, In Australia the temperature in Adelaide hit 108º F prompting the South Australian government to declare a code red alert.
(SFC, 12/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 28, In Australia thousands of koalas were feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged area north of Sydney, further diminishing the iconic marsupial, while the fire danger increased in the country’s east as temperatures soared.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 29, The Israeli government appointed Yaacov Litzman as health minister, sparking a litany of condemnations from Australia's staunchly pro-Israel Jewish community. Litzman is suspected of aiding an alleged sexual abuser wanted in Australia.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 31, Wildfires burning across Australia's two most populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties and caused at least two fatalities. In the southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state, around 4,000 residents fled toward the waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2020 Jan 1, Australia deployed military ships and aircraft to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that have left at least 17 people dead nationwide and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline.
(AP, 1/1/20)
2020 Jan 2, Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. Authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast this week and at least eight people have died this week in the state and neighboring Victoria.
(AP, 1/2/20)
2020 Jan 3, In Australia one of the largest evacuations in the country's history was under way as more than 200 fires burned across the country. The navy evacuated hundreds of people from Mallacoota, cut off for days by the wild fires. Victoria premier declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state. Ten deaths have been confirmed in Victoria and New South
Wales with 28 reported missing in Victoria.
(SFC, 1/4/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 4, Wildfires raged in Australia, choking the sky with smoke, forcing thousands to flee and prompting the US to send more fire personnel to help battle the blazes.
(Good Morning America, 1/4/20)
2020 Jan 5, It was reported that wildfires that have been ravaging swaths of Australia have burned through one-third of Kangaroo Island, killing a father and his son and leaving behind a scorched wasteland and a devastated community. The fires have killed thousands of koalas and kangaroos, and also have raised questions about whether any members of a mouse-like marsupial species that carries its young in a pouch have survived.
(AP, 1/5/20)
2020 Jan 9, The Israeli the Justice Ministry confirmed that a psychiatric panel has determined that Malka Leifer, a woman facing dozens of sex-abuse charges in Australia, is fit to stand trial for extradition.
(AP, 1/9/20)
2020 Jan 10, In southeastern Australia two wildfires merged to form a massive 1.58 million-acre inferno in the Snowy Mountains region near Tumbarumba. A man suffered serious burns protecting a home, in a night of treacherous conditions during the nation’s unprecedented wildfire crisis.
(AP, 1/10/20)(SSFC, 1/12/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 20, In Australia a hail storm hit Canberra damaging buildings, homes and cars, and caused flash flooding. Recent rains have helped but have not extinguished major fires in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(SFC, 1/21/20, p.A2)
2020 Jan 23, In Australia three American crew members were killed when a C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker crashed while battling wildfires in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales.
(AP, 1/23/20)
2020 Jan 25, Australia declared its first confirmed case of the Wuhan coronavirus in the state of Victoria, with the patient hospitalized in a stable condition in a suburb of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 1/25/20)
2020 Jan 26, Australia Day celebrations saw thousands of people flock to beaches and music festivals, but festivities were clouded by the tragedy of bushfires which have killed 33 and destroyed hundreds of homes.
(Reuters, 1/26/20)
2020 Jan 31, The Australian capital region declared a state of emergency because of an out-of-control forest fire burning erratically to its south.
(AP, 1/31/20)
2020 Feb 1, Australia banned all arrivals from China due to the coronavirus.
(Econ, 3/21/20, p.35)
2020 Feb 2, In Australia dozens of homes were destroyed overnight in New South Wales and around Canberra.
(SFC, 2/3/20, p.A3)
2020 Feb 7, Heavy rains lashed parts of the wildfire and drought-stricken Australian east coast, bringing some flooding in Sydney and relief to firefighters still dealing with dozens of blazes in New South Wales. There were still 42 fires burning in the state, with 17 of those not contained.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 8, Australian authorities declared the Currowan Fire south of Sydney was finally out after destroying more than 300 homes and razing 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) over two-and-a-half months. A deluge in eastern parts of the country drenched deadly fires and helped ease a crippling drought.
(AP, 2/10/20)
2020 Feb 19, In Australia a mother and her three children died in a car fire after Rowan Baxter (42), her estranged husband and the children's father, allegedly doused his family with gas before setting the car alight. Baxter was found dead near the scene, reportedly after stabbing himself.
(AP, 2/19/20)
2020 Feb 20, In Australia a train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed killing two people on board.
(SFC, 2/21/20, p.A2)
2020 Feb 21, In Australia, two people who had been evacuated from a virus-wracked cruise ship off Japan tested positive for mild cases of the COVID-19 illness.
(AFP, 2/21/20)
2020 Mar 1, A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said more than 80,000 Uighurs were shipped out of Xinjiang provice from 2017-2019 to take jobs in factories across China under conditions that "strongly suggest forced labor." China has acknowledged a scheme called "Xinjiang Aid" to reduce poverty in the province.
(Econ., 3/7/20, p.38)
2020 Mar 2, Australian health officials said that a woman and a male doctor have contracted coronavirus, becoming the first cases of community transmissions in the country.
(AP, 3/2/20)
2020 Mar 3, The Australian Associated Press said it was closing after 85 years, blaming a decline in subscribers and free distribution of news content on digital platforms. AAP's more than 170 journalists will cease operations by June 26.
(SFC, 3/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 10, Australia's coronavirus cases rose overnight to 100 from 80.
(AP, 3/10/20)
2020 Mar 13, Australia warned citizens the coronavirus pandemic is now so widespread that they should reconsider all foreign travel, as the government stepped up measures to slow the spread of the disease.
(AFP, 3/13/20)
2020 Mar 15, In Australia's New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, reported 22 new cases taking the totally tally to 134. Eight new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state of Victoria, bringing the total number of cases in that state to 57. Australia said it will impose 14-day self-isolation on international travelers arriving from midnight and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days.
(Bloomberg, 3/15/20)(Reuters, 3/15/20)
2020 Mar 16, Australia's capital and 2nd most populous state declared states of emergency after the national death toll from the coronavirus rose to five with nearly 300 cases in total.
(Reuters, 3/16/20)
2020 Mar 19, In Australia about 2,700 passengers disembarked in Sidney from the cruise ship Ruby Princess. More than 600 cases of the coronavirus and 15 deaths were later linked to the ship. About 200 crew members later showed symptoms of the virus.
(SFC, 4/10/20, p.A4)
2020 Mar 22, Australia said it will enforce more stringent controls to slow the spread of the coronavirus, closing pubs, casinos, restaurants and other venues from March 23 after the number of infections in the nation surged past 1,000.
(Bloomberg, 3/22/20)
2020 Mar 23, Australia’s parliament rushed through more than A$80 billion ($46.3 billion) in fiscal stimulus for the coronavirus-stricken economy at a special sitting in Canberra. Cases of coronavirus reached 1,709 as at 3 p.m., up 313 since 3 p.m. the day before.
(Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020 Mar 28, Australia’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 14. The number of confirmed infections stood at 3,635, an increase of 469 from a day earlier. Australia stepped up enforcement of social distancing rules, implementing fines, closing beaches and threatening stricter measures if people defy pleas to stay at home.
(Bloomberg, 3/28/20)(Reuters, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, Australian authorities pressed ahead with plans to fly 800 cruise ship passengers to Germany this weekend after a downward revision in the number of people on board who needed to be tested for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 30, Australia unleashed a record A$130 billion ($80 billion) jobs-rescue plan, pledging to subsidize workers’ wages as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the economy and throws thousands out of work.
(Bloomberg, 3/31/20)
2020 Apr 4, In Austria the number of confirmed cases increased to 11,781 with 186 deaths. The growth of COVID-19 infections decreased to a single digit percentage range. The health ministry issued a decree stipulating that not more than five people are allowed to meet in one room, even at people's homes, unless they live together.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 6, Australia's High Court overturned the convictions of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic leader ever found guilty of sexually abusing children. It found that the jury "ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offenses for which he was convicted".
(The Week, 4/7/20)
2020 Apr 6, In Australia a young wildlife worker (23) died following a shark attack on the Great Barrier Reef.
(SFC, 4/8/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 14, It was reported that a team of scientists in Australia earlier this month found that a single dose of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic treatment dates back to the 1970s and 1980s, could essentially remove all viral RNA of the coronavirus by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it.
(ABC News, 4/14/20)
2020 Apr 18, A German-operated cruise ship left Western Australia after three weeks. Three people died on board of the virus during that time. About 79 crew and passengers aboard the Artania had tested positive.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 20, More than 150 Australian economists warned the government against easing social distancing rules.
(Reuters, 4/20/20)
2020 Apr 22, In Australia a truck smashed into a police car that had stopped a speeding driver, killing four officers in Melbourne.
(SFC, 4/24/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 26, The Australian government launched a controversial coronavirus tracing app and promised to legislate privacy protections around it as authorities try to get the country and the economy back onto more normal footing. The app, based on Singapore's TraceTogether software, uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another.
(Reuters, 4/26/20)
2020 Apr 27, Australia's government said more than two million Australians have downloaded an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients hours after its release.
(Reuters, 4/27/20)
2020 Apr 30, Australia's Capital Territory declared itself free of all known cases of the coronavirus. Australia has recorded 6,746 cases, including 90 deaths.
(SFC, 5/1/20, p.A4)
2020 May 1, Australian PM Scott Morrison, who has angered Beijing by calling for a global inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak, said he had no evidence to suggest the disease originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
(Reuters, 5/1/20)
2020 May 1, Australian police fataly shot a man who stabbed and slashed seven people at and near a shopping mall in South Hedland, Western Australia state.
(SFC, 5/2/20, p.A2)
2020 May 2, Australian health officials said a small coronavirus cluster has emerged at a meat factory in the state of Victoria, as parts of the country started easing social distancing restrictions after suppressing the infection rate to below 1 %. Victoria reported seven new cases, three of which were related to a meat-processing facility. A total of 8 employees have tested positive.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 4, The Australian government set aside A$300 million ($191 million) to jumpstart hydrogen projects with the help of low-cost financing as the country aims to build the industry by 2030.
(Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020 May 16, Australia's Victoria state reported 11 new coronavirus cases, including some linked to known clusters at a meat factory and a McDonald's restaurant.
(Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020 May 18, Australia's Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham said China's decision to impose a tariff of 80.5% on barley imports from Australia is deeply disappointing.
(Reuters, 5/18/20)
2020 May 25, In Australia remnants of Cyclone Mangga battered a vast stretch of the western coast for a 2nd day.
(SFC, 5/26/20, p.A2)
2020 May 26, US biotechnology company Novamax began injecting a coronavirus vaccine candidate into people in Australia with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year.
(AP, 5/26/20)
2020 May 31, Australia continued easing COVID-19 restrictions as infections totaled 7,180 with 103 deaths.
(SFC, 6/1/20, p.A5)
2020 Jun 12, Australia's chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy said the coronavirus has been eliminated in many areas of the country, as more than half of the 38 cases reported over the past week were travelers returning from abroad and remaining quarantined.
(NY Times, 6/12/20)
2020 Jun 13, Protests went ahead in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in far-flung parts of Australia against the advice of government and health authorities but on a significantly smaller scale than the previous weekend.
(AP, 6/13/20)
2020 Jun 26, Australian intelligence officers and police raided the home and office of New South Wales opposition state legislator Shaoquett Moselmane as part of an investigation into alleged Chinese influence operations.
(The Telegraph, 6/26/20)
2020 Jun 30, In Australia Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne will lock down 36 suburbs until July 29 in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 7/1/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 3, Australia reported a drop in new coronavirus cases, with a surge in the second most populated state Victoria appearing to have eased, although more than 10,000 people have refused to be tested in hotspot suburbs of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 7/3/20)
2020 Jul 4, Australia’s Victoria state locked down nine public housing towers and three more Melbourne suburbs after 108 new coronavirus cases.
(AP, 7/4/20)
2020 Jul 8, In Australia the city of Melbourne and part of its surroundings began a six-week lockdown. Victoria authorities announced 134 new cases in the past 24 hours.
(SFC, 7/9/20, p.A7)
2020 Jul 9, Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extended visas for Hong Kong residents in response to China's imposition of a tough national security law on the semi-autonomous territory.
(SFC, 7/10/20, p.A6)
2020 Jul 11, In Australia, health officials in Victoria reported 216 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, down from the record 288 the previous day.
(AP, 7/11/20)
2020 Jul 12, Australia's government said that it will offer 10,000 Hong Kong passport holders currently living in Australia a chance to apply for permanent residence once their current passport expires.
(SFC, 7/13/20, p.A2)
2020 Jul 17, Authorities in Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne meanwhile warned that its lockdown could become even tougher after a record 423 new cases were registered there.
(AFP, 7/17/20)
2020 Jul 20, Australia's New South Wales state reported 20 new infections, the highest in three months. Authorities here have been unable to trace some of the clusters and state authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and public transport.
(Reuters, 7/20/20)
2020 Jul 22, Australia recorded 502 new cases of the coronavirus, including 484 in Victoria state, where face were made compulsory as of July 23.
(SFC, 7/23/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 23, Australia rejected Beijing's territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea in a formal declaration to the United Nations, aligning itself more closely with Washington in the escalating row.
(AFP, 7/24/20)
2020 Jul 24, In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced five deaths and 357 new cases. Victoria, where the death toll has risen to 61, earlier closed its border with neighboring New South Wales.
(AP, 7/24/20)
2020 Jul 26, Australia suffered its deadliest day since the pandemic began, with 10 fatalities and a rise in new infections despite an intense lockdown effort.
(AFP, 7/26/20)
2020 Jul 26, A light aircraft carrying 500kg of cocaine, worth an estimated £45 million crashed in Papua, New Guinea. The pilot, an Australian, soon surrendered to his country’s consulate in Papua. Five other men, allegedly linked to a Melbourne-based crime syndicate, were also later arrested.
(The Telegraph, 8/2/20)
2020 Jul 28, Australia said it was sending a medical team to help Papua New Guinea fight an outbreak of coronavirus after the neighboring country experienced a rise in infections. There were 62 confirmed virus cases as of late today, up from just eight infections 11 days ago.
(Reuters, 7/28/20)
2020 Jul 29, Australian biotechnology company Vaxine Pty Ltd said it expects to start Phase II trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the next few weeks after "positive" results from the first stage human study.
(Reuters, 7/29/20)
2020 Aug 2, In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced a 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew on Melbourne, a city of 5 million people. Schools statewide are to return to home-based teaching and day care centers were closed. Andrews said there were seven deaths and 671 new cases over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 8/2/20)
2020 Aug 5, In Australia the streets of Melbourne’s usually vibrant downtown were draining of signs of life on the eve of Australia’s toughest-ever pandemic restrictions coming into force. Victoria set a new daily record of 725 coronavirus cases. Elsewhere in Australia, only 14 new infections were found.
(AP, 8/5/20)
2020 Aug 15, Australia's Victoria state reported 4 more deaths COVID-19 deaths and 303 newly confirmed cases over the last 24 hours in a positive trend downward.
(SSFC, 8/16/20, p.A11)
2020 Aug 24, In Australia notorious conman Peter Foster, who once assisted Cherie Blair in purchasing two properties in Bristol, was extradited to Sydney. Mr Foster was captured by two police officers disguised as joggers who tackled him on a beach in northern Queensland on August 20.
(The Telegraph, 8/24/20)
2020 Aug 30, New coronavirus cases in Australia's state of Victoria returned to the triple digits.
(Reuters, 8/30/20)
2020 Sep 2, Australia's Victoria state extended its state of emergency for another six months as it reported 90 new coronavirus cases and six deaths over the last 24 hours.
(SFC, 9/3/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 8, Australian journalists Bill Birtles and Michael Smith arrived in Sidney after being rushed out of China following a 5-day diplomatic standoff. Chinese investigators had sought to question them about Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian news anchor who was detained in August for national security crimes.
(SFC, 9/9/20, p.A2)(Econ., 9/12/20, p.35)
2020 Sep 17, Australia reported its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in nearly three months, as states said restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the virus will be further relaxed.
(Reuters, 9/17/20)
2020 Sep 21, In Australia hundreds of pilot whales were discovered beached on the shore and sand bars along the remote west coast of Tasmania state.
(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 21, An Israeli court approved the extradition of Malka Leifer, a former teacher wanted in Australia on charges of child sex abuse, potentially paving the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal battle.
(AP, 9/21/20)
2020 Sep 23, More pilot whales were found stranded in Australia, raising the estimated total to nearly 500, including 380 that have died, in the largest mass stranding ever recorded in the country. 88 whales were rescued and crews worked to free 20 more.
(AP, 9/23/20)(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 28, Australian biotech company Ena Respiratory said that a nasal spray it is developing to improve the human immune system to fight common cold and flu significantly reduced the growth of the coronavirus in a recent study on animals. Australia has so far reported 875 deaths and just over 27,000 coronavirus cases, far less than the numbers reported in other developed countries.
(Reuters, 9/28/20)
2020 Sep 28, Seventy world leaders signed the “Leaders Pledge for Nature" and vowed to take steps to halt the catastrophic human-made decline. Non-signers included President Donald Trump, his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro and Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(https://tinyurl.com/y64tmyrf)(NBC News, 10/16/20)
2020 Oct 2, Qatar Airways examined a number of female passengers bound for Sydney and nine other unnamed destinations after a newborn baby was found abandoned. The forced vaginal examination triggered outrage in Australia.
(AP, 10/30/20)
2020 Oct 6, It was reported that Tasmanian devils, the carnivorous marsupials whose feisty, frenzied eating habits won the animals cartoon fame, have returned to mainland Australia for the first time in some 3,000 years. The 11 most recently released devils began exploring their new home at the nearly 1,000-acre Barrington Tops wildlife refuge in New South Wales state.
(AP, 10/6/20)
2020 Oct 9, In Australia a surfer vanished in a suspected shark attack at Kelp Beds Beach near the town of Esperance.
(SFC, 10/10/20, p.A2)
2020 Oct 12, Australian researchers said the virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on banknotes, glass and stainless steel for up to 28 days.
(Reuters, 10/12/20)
2020 Oct 13, New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, said it will ease restrictions despite reporting the biggest one-day jump in new COVID-19 cases in six weeks.
(Reuters, 10/13/20)
2020 Oct 14, Researchers said half the coral that makes up Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has died since 1995 and that the decline would continue if no drastic action is taken on climate change.
(NY Times, 10/14/20)
2020 Oct 20, Australian officials evacuated workers from a Kuwaiti-flagged livestock ship docked off the country's west coast after at least half the 52 crew tested positive for COVID-19.
(Reuters, 10/20/20)
2020 Oct 20, Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.
(Reuters, 10/28/20)
2020 Oct 28, In Australia Melbourne’s pandemic lockdown was largely lifted after 111 days.
(AP, 10/28/20)
2020 Oct 29, Australia's COVID-19 hotspot state Victoria reported only one new infection, a day after it lifted a four month lockdown in the city of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 29, An Australian judge ruled that a Adriana Rivas, a woman wanted in Chile on kidnapping charges dating to Pinochet's military dictatorship in the 1970s, can be extradited. She was wanted for kidnapping seven people in 1976 and 1977, including Communist party leader Victor Diaz. The alleged victims have never been found.
(SFC, 10/30/20, p.A2)
2020 Nov 16, South Australia reported 14 new coronavirus cases, a rapid spike in the state's first outbreak since April, prompting officials to impose social distancing restrictions.
(Reuters, 11/16/20)
2020 Nov 17, The leaders of Australia and Japan reached an agreement on a bilateral defense pact that would allow their troops to work more closely.
(SFC, 11/18/20, p.A2)
2020 Nov 18, Australia’s military said Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan over an 11-year period (2005-2016). It is a rare public accounting of abuses in distant war zones. Commanders had ordered junior soldiers to execute prisoners so they could record their first “kill." Adolescents, farmers and other noncombatants were shot dead in circumstances clearly outside the heat of battle.
(AP, 11/18/20)
2020 Nov 23, Australian scientists pushed to list the platypus as a vulnerable species after a report showed the habitat of the semi-aquatic native mammal had shrunk more than a fifth in the last 30 years.
(Reuters, 11/23/20)
2020 Nov 25, Iran released Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who has been detained in the country for over two years on espionage charges, in exchange for three Iranian prisoners who were being held abroad.
(AP, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 26, "Henri’s Armchair," a painting by famed Australian artist Brett Whiteley (1939-1992) sold at auction for A$6.25 million ($4.6 million), setting a new record in the country and underscoring the appeal of art investments amid the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 11/27/20)
2020 Dec 1, Australia national science agency said a powerful new telescope in the outback has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries.
(Reuters, 12/1/20)
2020 Dec 2, The International Union for Conservation of Nature said climate change is increasingly damaging the UN’s most cherished heritage sites, reporting that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and dozens of other natural wonders are facing severe threats.
(AP, 12/2/20)
2020 Dec 10, Australian scientists said they had developed a rapid genome sequencing method that would cut to within four hours the time taken to trace the source of coronavirus cases, helping to quickly contain any future outbreaks.
(Reuters, 12/10/20)
2020 Dec 11, Australian researchers announced they had abandoned development of a potential vaccine because the false positive results to HIV tests undermined public confidence.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 14, PM Jacinda Ardern announced that the New Zealand government intends to establish a travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of next year.
(NY Times, 12/14/20)
2020 Dec 16, Israel’s justice minister said he has signed an extradition order to send former teacher Malka Leifer to Australia to face charges of child sex abuse.
(AP, 12/16/20)
2020 Dec 19, In Australia a quarter million people in Sydney's northern beach suburbs were ordered into a strict lockdown until Christmas Eve to help contain a coronavirus cluster with authorities fearing it may spread across Australia's most populous city.
(Reuters, 12/19/20)
2020 Dec 20, Sydney was isolated from the rest of Australia after all of the country's states and territories imposed travel restrictions on its residents as a coronavirus cluster in the city grew to around 70. New South Wales recorded 30 new coronavirus cases overnight.
(Reuters, 12/20/20)
2020 Dec 21, Australia said it had detected cases of the new fast-spreading coronavirus strain identified in the UK, while Hong Kong and India said they would suspend flights from Britain. Authorities say a new strain of the coronavirus in Sydney's north most likely originated in the United States, but how it got from the airport to the community remains a puzzle.
(Reuters, 12/21/20)
2021 Jan 1, Australia changed a lyric in its national anthem from “we are young and free" to “we are one and free" to recognize Indigenous populations that have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years.
(NY Times, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 3, Australia's New South Wales state recorded eight new local cases. There are 161 active cases in the state, most of them in the northern beaches of Sydney, and 13 emanating from liquor store that are not connected to the beaches cluster. More Australian states and territories are reimposing travel restrictions to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus from new outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 4, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) sate reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands of people to get tested.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 9, Australia's health officials said they are on high alert after cases of highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus, discovered in Britain and South Africa, have made it into the country.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 10, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state recorded three new coronavirus cases as a three-week lockdown for about quarter million of people in Sydney's northern beaches suburbs eased.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, The foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, Canada and the USA issued a joint statement expressing "serious concern" about the arrest of 55 democracy advocates in Hong Kong last week.
(SFC, 1/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 13, Australia’s financial intelligence agency admitted it vastly misreported the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia over the past six years by nearly $1.5 billion. The miscalculation was believed to have resulted from a computer coding error.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 21, It was reported that Google and Facebook Inc have granted an Australian local government news provider status, drawing questions about the internet giants' efforts to curate news media.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 24, Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen to press on with its vaccination campaign from next month.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 25, Australia's medical regulator approved use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 25, Israeli authorities extradited Malka Leifer (54), a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, capping a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments and antagonized Australia's Jewish community.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Feb 3, Australian authorities said more than 70 homes have been lost in a wildfire outside the western city of Perth that is expected to continue burning for days.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that the US government has awarded a $231 million contract to scale up production of a COVID-19 test from Australian manufacturer Ellume that allows users to swab themselves at home and check their status in about 20 minutes.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 5, In Australia Tech giant Google launched a platform offering news it has paid for, striking its own content deals with publishers in a drive to show legislation proposed by Canberra to enforce payments, a world first, is unnecessary.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, China formally arrested Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 6, Australia's foreign ministry said in a statement late today that it was "deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar." Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, said in a message that he was being detained.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 14, It was reported that Australia's Seven West Media Ltd has become the country's first major news outlet to strike a licensing deal with Google, as the government pushes ahead with a law that would force the internet giant to pay media companies for content.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, It was reported that parts of southeastern Australia have been overrun by mice. The pests in rural New South Walews have spread into Queensland, Victoria and South Australia dued to abundant rainfall and a good harvest.
(SSFC, 2/14/21, p.B8)
2021 Feb 15, Australia received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine as more than 142,000 doses arrived at Sydney airport.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 18, Facebook blocked all news in Australia as the country prepared to make tech companies pay for the news on their platforms.
(NY Times, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 22, Facebook said that it would restore the sharing and viewing of news links in Australia after gaining more time to negotiate over a proposed law that would require it to pay for news content that appears on its site.
(NY Times, 2/22/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that a shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia has been blocked from leaving the EU in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to make sure big pharma companies would respect their contracts.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 6, In Australia the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sidney went ahead at the Sidney Cricket Ground. Up tp 23,000 spectators were allowed in the stands while performers paraded on the field.
(SSFC, 3/7/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 15, In Australia more than 100,000 people took to the streets in dozens of rallies across the country to protest violence against women and the government’s handling of two rape cases involving high-level political figures.
(The Telegraph, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 17, Australia said it will send COVID-19 vaccines from its own supply to Papua New Guinea and will ask AstraZeneca to send 8,000 doses to contain a concerning wave of infections.
(SFC, 3/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 20, Australia's east coast was smashed by heavy rains, sparking dangerous flash flooding that forced the evacuation of multiple regions as the fast-moving waters unmoored houses, engulfed roads, stranded towns and cut power lines.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 21, Australia's most populous state of New South Wales issued more evacuation orders following the worst flooding in decades.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 28, Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment was unable to air its news bulletin from its Sydney headquarters due to "technical difficulties" which a source with knowledge of the matter blamed on a suspected cyber attack.
(Reuters, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 29, Australia's professional sports leagues scrambled to put contingency plans in place after Queensland authorities announced a snap three-day lockdown in state capital Brisbane to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti (78), known for elegant designs and efforts to empower women over more than half a century, died after a fall in Sydney.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 4, Australians celebrated Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted manner as the country reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 8, Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, while the Africa Union dropped plans to buy the shot, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 9, Australia said that it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 16, Australia reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) Covid-19 shot. It was the third case of the rare blood clots appearing in people who have been administered the vaccine in the country.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 21, Australia cancelled two deals struck by its state of Victoria with China on Beijing's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, prompting the Chinese embassy in Canberra to warn that already tense bilateral ties were bound to worsen.
(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 28, In Australia Richard Pusey (42), speeding driver, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for offenses including what a judge described as the "heartless, cruel and disgraceful" filming of four dead and dying police officers who had just been hit by a truck on a freeway.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 May 11, The Australian government released a big-spending economic plan for the next fiscal year that includes hefty investments in defense and national security as relations with China worsen.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, A new analysis by an Australian think tank said Xinjiang in far western China had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 12, Australia tapped Moderna Inc for 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, as it tries to speed up vaccination in people under 50 after deciding against AstraZeneca, whose jab has been linked to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 25, Australia's city of Melbourne increased pandemic restrictions after identifying a cluster from someone infected in quarantine. Restrictions will apply until June 4.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 30, Australia's Victoria state reported five new local COVID-19 cases, including in a worker at a Melbourne aged care facility where not all of the residents have been vaccinated.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, It was reported that farmers in Australia's New South Wales state were being threatened by an unprecedented mouse plague. The state government has ordered 1,320 gallons of the banned poison Bromadiolone from India.
(SSFC, 5/30/21, p.A8)
2021 Jun 12, Australia's Victoria state, which emerged from a strict lockdown earlier this week, recorded one new community case of COVID-19. The outbreak, which triggered the two-week snap lockdown late last month, has now seen 91 cases since May 24.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 15, Australia and Britain announced that they have agreed a trade deal - the first negotiated from scratch post-Brexit.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 18, A former Australian spy was convicted over his unconfirmed role as a whistleblower who revealed an espionage operation against the government of East Timor in 2004. The Canberra court registry listed him as “Witness K".
(AP, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, Australia's largest state New South Wales (NSW) recorded two locally acquired coronavirus cases, as concerns grow over the further spread of infections amid an increase in exposure sites.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 22, The United Nations said the Great Barrier Reef has suffered such extensive damage that it should be listed as "in danger." The warning prompted an immediate rejection from the Australian government.
(CBS News, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 24, In Australia a cluster of highly contagious delta variant coronavirus cases in Sydney grew to 36. The cluster spread from a Sydney airport limousine driver who tested positive last week. He was not vaccinated, reportedly did not wear a mask and is suspected to have been infected while transporting a foreign air crew.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 26, Australian officials introduced a strict two-week lockdown for all of greater Sydney as an outbreak of the Delta variant spreads rapidly.
(NY Times, 6/26/21)
2021 Jun 27, Australia lowered its projections for population and economic growth over the next 40 years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reuters, 6/27/21)
2021 Jun 28, Australia was battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days. Coronavirus cases in Sydney grew by 18 and now stand at 130. It is the worst outbreak the city has seen since last year. Other states across Australia also reported a handful of new cases, threatening the nation’s successful control of a virus.
(AP, 6/28/21)(NY Times, 6/28/21)
2021 Jul 4, Australia's New South Wales state reported a fall in new daily coronavirus cases, following two days of record 2021 infections. Officials implored Sydney residents to follow rules so they could end a lockdown next week.
(Reuters, 7/4/21)
2021 Jul 7, Sydney’s two-week lockdown was extended for another week due to the vulnerability of an Australia population largely unvaccinated against COVID-19.
(AP, 7/7/21)
2021 Jul 11, Australia reported its first locally contracted COVID-19 death of the year and a 2021 record 77 new cases of the virus in the state of New South Wales, which is battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
(Reuters, 7/11/21)
2021 Jul 12, Australian health officials reported yet another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases for the year, fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant. New South Wales state reported 112 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, almost all of them in Sydney, despite the country's biggest city entering its third week of lockdown. Case numbers have been at record levels for at least three days.
(Reuters, 7/12/21)
2021 Jul 15, Australia's state of Victoria was ordered into a five-day lockdown following a spike in COVID-19 infections, joining Sydney as the country's two main population hubs battle an outbreak of the Delta variant.
(Reuters, 7/15/21)
2021 Jul 23, Australia garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations’ cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change.
(AP, 7/23/21)
2021 Jul 23, Australia's New South Wales state reported its biggest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney and a request for additional vaccine doses that was rebuffed by other state leaders.
(Reuters, 7/23/21)
2021 Jul 24, New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 163 locally acquired cases of COVID-19, its biggest daily rise, up from 136 a day earlier, in a worsening outbreak that has led to an urgent push to speed up vaccinations.
(Reuters, 7/24/21)
2021 Jul 25, Australia's New South Wales logged its second-highest daily increase of the year in locally acquired COVID-19 cases amid fears of a wave of new infections after thousands of people joined an anti-lockdown protest.
(Reuters, 7/25/21)
2021 Jul 28, Australia's biggest city, Sydney, extended a lockdown by four weeks after an already protracted stay-at-home order failed to douse an outbreak, with authorities warning of tougher policing to stamp out non-compliance.
(Reuters, 7/28/21)
2021 Jul 29, Australia's Sky News was issued a one-week suspension by YouTube after a review of its content allegedly denied the existence of Covid-19 or encouraged people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat the coronavirus, without providing countervailing context.
(Reuters, 7/31/21)
2021 Jul 31, In Australia coronavirus cases continued to surge in Sydney as police cordoned off the city's central district, preventing a planned anti-lockdown protest from taking place.
(Reuters, 7/31/21)
2021 Aug 2, Australia tightened COVID curbs. Queensland state extended a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, while soldiers began patrolling Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules as Australia struggles to stop the highly contagious Delta variant spreading.
(Reuters, 8/2/21)
2021 Aug 8, Australia's three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland reported a total of 282 COVID-19 new locally acquired infections, with authorities struggling to quell outbreaks of the Delta variant.
(Reuters, 8/8/21)
2021 Aug 9, Australia expanded a COVID-19 lockdown to a rural town and the coastal region of Byron Bay, as fears grew that the virus has spread from Sydney to the northern tip of the country's most populous state.
(Reuters, 8/9/21)
2021 Aug 11, Melbourne, Australia, extended its 6th lockdown for a 2nd week in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of COVID-19.
(SFC, 8/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Aug 13, In Australia a government leader said Canberra will remain locked down until there are no more COVID-19 infections in the city.
(SFC, 8/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Aug 14, Australia's state of New South Wales reported a record 466 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, as the country's most populous state remained in tight lockdown. Police hiked fines for people breaking lockdown rules in Sydney and the rest of its home state.
(Reuters, 8/14/21)
2021 Aug 15, Australia said it had purchased about 1 million doses of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine from Poland to supplement its inoculation drive in Sydney and its home state amid record new infections.
(Reuters, 8/15/21)
2021 Aug 16, In Australia New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said seven people in Sydney had died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing the state's previous record daily toll.
(AP, 8/16/21)
2021 Aug 20, In Australia lockdown of Sidney, now in its eighth week, was extended until the end of September, with residents told to wear masks outdoors, except for exercise. New South Wales reported 644 new infections, while southeastern Victoria state, home to Melbourne, recorded 55.
(AP, 8/20/21)
2021 Aug 21, In Australia more than 250 people were arrested for during protests against coronavirus lockdowns. Many faced fines for defying health orders.
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.A8)
2021 Aug 24, Australia's pandemic modelling adviser said the government can proceed with its reopening plans when the country reaches 70%-80% vaccination levels, even as some states hinted they may not ease border curbs if Sydney fails to control its Delta outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/24/21)
2021 Aug 25, Sydney's COVID-19 infections hit a daily record, putting parts of the health system under pressure. Sydney reported 919 new cases amid a growing Delta variant outbreak, taking Australia's daily case numbers to a new pandemic high just below 1,000.
(Reuters, 8/25/21)
2021 Aug 27, Australia's New South Wales state recorded 882 new cases and two deaths, most of them in state capital Sydney, as officials struggle to quell the Delta outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/27/21)
2021 Aug 28, Australia reported a record 1,126 coronavirus infectious, the vast majority in New South Wales, the epicenter of the Delta-fuelled outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/28/21)
2021 Aug 29, Australia logged a record 1,323 local COVID-19 cases. New South Wales, reported a record 1,218 locally acquired COVID-19 infections, exceeding the previous day's record of 1,035.
(Reuters, 8/29/21)
2021 Aug 30, Australia reported four fatalities, taking the total death toll from COVID-19 to 1,003, as infections surged to successive record highs above 1,200 a day. Just over 33% of those aged 16 and older have received two vaccine doses.
(Reuters, 8/30/21)
2021 Aug 31, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will receive 500,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Singapore this week, after Canberra agreed a swap deal in a bid to curtail surging coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 8/31/21)
2021 Sep 1, Australian authorities extended the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne for another three weeks, as they shift their focus to rapid vaccination drives and move away from a suppression strategy to bring cases down to zero.
(Reuters, 9/1/21)
2021 Sep 3, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will receive an additional 4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine this month after agreeing a swap deal with Britain, to help accelerate its vaccination program amid a record surge in infections.
(Reuters, 9/3/21)
2021 Sep 4, Australia reported 1,756 infections, another record high, and officials warned that worse is yet to come, urging people to get vaccinated.
(Reuters, 9/4/21)
2021 Sep 5, Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus as authorities raced ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast.
(Reuters, 9/5/21)
2021 Sep 5, In Australia a surfer was fatally bitten by a shark in Coff's Harbor off the eastern coast.
(SFC, 9/6/21, p.A4)
2021 Sep 6, Australia's state of New South Wales reported 1,281 new coronavirus cases, most of them in Sydney, down from 1,485 a day earlier. Five new deaths were recorded. Victoria state, which includes Melbourne, reported 246 new cases, its biggest daily rise of the year.
(Reuters, 9/6/21)
2021 Sep 7, In Australia COVID-19 daily infections in Sydney fell for a third straight day but still lingered near record levels as the outbreak spurred a spike in vaccination rates in the hard-hit western suburbs of Australia's largest city.
(Reuters, 9/7/21)
2021 Sep 8, Australia's High Court ruled that news publishers, including Rupert Murdoch's the Australian, are responsible for comments that readers post on their corporate Facebook pages.
(Reuters, 9/8/21)
2021 Sep 10, Australia's COVID-19 daily cases topped 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic as an outbreak fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant continued to gain ground in locked-down Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities.
(Reuters, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 11, Australia and India vowed to deepen their security cooperation, especially following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, as the world marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
(Reuters, 9/11/21)
2021 Sep 11, Australia posted 2,077 infections, surpassing the previous day's record of 1,903. Queensland, Australia's third most populous state, said it may order a snap lockdown after a cluster of COVID-19 cases, as the country posted a record one-day rise in daily infections.
(Reuters, 9/11/21)
2021 Sep 12, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has purchased an additional 1 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine from the European Union, as the country accelerates its inoculation program to fight record high infections.
(Reuters, 9/12/21)
2021 Sep 13, The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations had slowed as first-dose coverage neared 80% and urged the unvaccinated to get shots soon or risk missing out on freedoms when curbs ease.
(Reuters, 9/13/21)
2021 Sep 15, The Biden administration took a major step in challenging China’s broad territorial claims in the Pacific, announcing that the United States and Britain would help Australia to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western presence in the region. Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under an Indo-Pacific security partnership.
(NY Times, 9/16/21)(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 16, Australia's Victoria state reported its biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases of the year as a surge in vaccinations nationwide raised hope for easing restrictions with almost 70% of the adult population having had a first dose.
(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 16, China denounced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, saying such partnerships should not target third countries and warning of an intensified arms race in the region.
(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 18, Australia's police arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney at unsanctioned anti-lockdown rallies and several police officers were injured in clashes with protesters.
(Reuters, 9/18/21)
2021 Sep 18, Malaysia expressed concerns that Australia's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under a new pact with Britain and the United States could catalyze a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region.
(Reuters, 9/18/21)
2021 Sep 19, Australia reported 1,607 new coronavirus cases as states and territories gradually shift from trying to eliminate outbreaks to living with the virus.
(Reuters, 9/19/21)
2021 Sep 20, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state reported its lowest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks as some lockdown restrictions were eased in Sydney amid higher vaccination levels. 935 new cases were detected in the state, the lowest daily tally since Aug. 27, and down from 1,083 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 9/20/21)
2021 Sep 21, The Australian Koala Foundation said Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas over the past three years, hit by drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees.
(Reuters, 9/21/21)
2021 Sep 22, Police in Australia's second largest city of Melbourne arrested more than 200 people after projectiles thrown by protesters injured two officers, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against COVID-19 curbs.
(Reuters, 9/22/21)
2021 Sep 22, In Australia a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne. There were no reports of serious injuries.
(Reuters, 9/22/21)
2021 Sep 24, Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia vowed to pursue a free and open Indo-Pacific region "undaunted by coercion" at their first in-person summit, which presented a united front amid shared concerns about China.
(Reuters, 9/25/21)
2021 Sep 25, Australia's Victoria state notched up a daily record of 847 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one death, as health officials warned the public to stay home ahead of a major national sporting final.
(Reuters, 9/25/21)
2021 Sep 26, Australia's Victoria state reported 779 new COVID-19 infections and two deaths, off the previous day's record high as the country's PM Scott Morrison pressed state leaders to be ready to reopen once they meet vaccination targets.
(Reuters, 9/26/21)
2021 Sep 27, Australian authorities announced plans to gradually reopen locked-down Sydney, unveiling a two-tiered system that will give inoculated citizens more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbors for several weeks.
(Reuters, 9/27/21)
2021 Sep 29, An Australian think tank said Chinese language community news groups in Australia are publishing news censored by translators they use in China to avoid potential repercussions in Beijing.
(Reuters, 9/29/21)
2021 Oct 1, The premier of Australia's biggest state economy New South Wales (NSW), Gladys Berejiklian, resigned after a corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct that "constituted or involved a breach of public trust".
(Reuters, 10/1/21)
2021 Oct 1, Senior Russian envoy Sergei Ryabkov said President Vladimir Putin is no longer interested in a joint freeze of nuclear weapons production with the United States. Ryabkov protested American inspections requests and a recent agreement to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
(Washington Examiner, 10/2/21)
2021 Oct 2, Australia reported 2,357 new cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, as the push to vaccinate the country's population continues in order to end lockdowns and allow for the reopening of international borders.
(Reuters, 10/2/21)
2021 Oct 3, Australia reported more than 1,900 new infections of the Delta coronavirus, with authorities struggling to quell the outbreak in the two most populous states and cases spreading to new states.
(Reuters, 10/3/21)
2021 Oct 5, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will buy 300,000 courses of Merck & Co's experimental antiviral pill, as Victoria logged the highest number of daily infections of any state in the country since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 10/5/21)
2021 Oct 7, Australia-based BHP Group, the world's largest listed mining company, announced that from the end of January all workers and visitors entering its workplaces in Australia will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 10/7/21)
2021 Oct 11, In Australia the Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub, opened one hour early to welcome back its regulars after the city emerged from a more than 100-day lockdown, allowing COVID-19 vaccinated locals to enjoy new freedoms including a morning beer.
(Reuters, 10/11/21)
2021 Oct 16, In Australia thousands of Sydney residents flocked to a prominent horse race, as the country's biggest city emerges from a strict COVID-19 lockdown and the nation begins to live with the coronavirus through extensive vaccination.
(Reuters, 10/16/21)
2021 Oct 20, A report from the Climate Council said Australia ranks dead last among comparable nations in addressing the climate challenge at its source — by cutting emissions.
(AP, 10/20/21)
2021 Oct 27, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed during a summit to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership between them.
(Reuters, 10/27/21)
2021 Oct 30, In Australia 76.8% of those 16 and older were fully vaccinated.
(Reuters, 10/30/21)
2021 Nov 1, Australia’s government said it will introduce two permanent residence visas for Hong Kong citizens who have been living in Australia.
(Reuters, 11/1/21)
2021 Nov 1, Australia, Israel and Thailand eased international border restrictions significantly for the first time in 18 months, offering a broad test of demand for travel worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 11/1/21)
2021 Nov 4, Australia charged Terence Darrell Kelly (36) with various offenses related to the abduction of Cleo Smith (4), who was recently found after an 18-day search following her disappearance from a family tent.
(SFC, 11/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Nov 6, Australia reached a full inoculation rate of 80% of those aged 16 and older, which PM Scott Morrison called a "magnificent milestone" on the path to becoming one of the world's most vaccinated countries against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 11/6/21)
2021 Nov 6, More than 1,000 people demonstrated in Australia's biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne to protest against the government's climate policies and the strategies it offered at a UN climate summit in Glasgow.
(Reuters, 11/6/21)
2021 Nov 8, Cambodia PM Hun Sen said Australia has pledged more than three million COVID-19 vaccine doses helping the Southeast nation give booster shots to its people.
(Reuters, 11/8/21)
2021 Nov 9, Australia’s PM Scott Morrison announced plans to encourage people to buy electric vehicles weeks after his government was accused at a UN conference in Scotland of being a laggard in fighting climate change.
(AP, 11/9/21)
2021 Nov 16, Google said it will spend A$1 billion ($736 million) in Australia over five years, resetting ties months after a threat to pull its services to avoid tougher government regulation.
(Reuters, 11/16/21)
2021 Nov 17, Law enforcement agencies in the US, Britain, and Australia issued a joint statement labeling an Iran-sponsored group as a serious threat to cyber security.
(Fox News, 11/17/21)
2021 Nov 22, It was reported that the Minderoo Foundation, owned by Andrew Forrest, chairman of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, plans to help 18 small publishers by applying to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on their behalf so they can negotiate together without breaching competition laws to secure licensing deals with Google and Facebook.
(Reuters, 11/22/21)
2021 Nov 24, Australia classified neo-Nazi organization The Base and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, as terrorist organizations.
(Reuters, 11/24/21)
2021 Nov 25, Australia announced it is sending police, troops and diplomats to the Solomon Islands to help after anti-government demonstrators defied lockdown orders and took to the streets for a second day in violent protests.
(AP, 11/25/21)
2021 Nov 26, Australia said it was investigating the newly identified COVID-19 variant spreading in South Africa and warned it may close its borders to travelers from the African nation if risks from the new strain rise.
(Reuters, 11/26/21)
2021 Nov 26, In the Solomon Islands more than a hundred people looted shops, before Australian Federal Police officers arrived. Australian police began taking control of hotspots following three days of violent protests in the South Pacific island nation.
(Reuters, 11/26/21)
2021 Nov 27, Australia and several other countries joined nations imposing restrictions on travel from southern Africa after the discovery of the new Omicron coronavirus variant sparked global concern and triggered a sell-off on financial markets.
(Reuters, 11/27/21)
2021 Nov 28, Australia confirmed that two people arriving from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant, adding to a growing number of countries fighting the highly infectious strain.
(Reuters, 11/28/21)
2021 Nov 30, Australian authorities confirmed a person with COVID-19 had the new Omicron variant after disclosing that the person had been active in the community, but urged calm as they weighed up the severity of the strain.
(Reuters, 11/30/21)
2021 Dec 2, Australia's tally of people with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 edged higher, prompting state governments to bolster domestic border controls as health experts wait to learn more about the dangers posed by the strain. New South Wales reported its seventh case of the variant, a person who arrived on Nov. 23 from Doha, Qatar, and noted that the person had not been in southern Africa, suggesting they caught the virus on the flight.
(Reuters, 12/2/21)
2021 Dec 4, The Omicron coronavirus variant spread in Australia, testing plans to reopen the economy as a cluster in Sydney grew to 13 cases and an infection was suspected in the state of Queensland.
(Reuters, 12/4/21)
2021 Dec 8, Australia and Britain said they will join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, as other allies weighed similar moves to protest at China's human rights record.
(Reuters, 12/8/21)
2021 Dec 10, The US announced that Australia, Denmark and Norway would join it in an effort to curb technology exports to governments that use the products for repression. Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom also supported the move.
(Reuters, 12/10/21)
2021 Dec 12, It was reported that the drought and heat waves that led to the huge wildfires in southern Australia in 2019 and 2020 have killed up to 60% of the trees that escaped the blazes.
(SSFC, 12/12/21, p.B12)
2021 Dec 13, Australia signed a A$1 billion ($716.5 million) defence deal with South Korea, boosting Seoul's efforts to grow its military exports.
(Reuters, 12/13/21)
2021 Dec 14, A World Trade Organization panel ruled in favor of Brazil, Australia and Guatemala in their trade disputes with India over sugar subsidies and asked New Delhi to conform with global rules.
(Reuters, 12/14/21)
2021 Dec 15, Australia reopened borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students after a nearly two-year ban on their entry, in a bid to boost an economy hit by stop-start COVID-19 lockdowns.
(Reuters, 12/15/21)
2021 Dec 15, In Australia four children were killed and several more badly injured after strong winds lifted an inflated jumping castle into the air during end-of-year school celebrations, causing them to fall 10 meters (33 feet) in Devonport, Tasmania state. Four days later a boy (11) died from the accident, taking the death toll from the tragedy to six children.
(Reuters, 12/16/21)(Reuters, 12/19/21)
2021 Dec 16, Australia-based Qantas Airways picked Airbus as the preferred supplier to replace its domestic fleet, switching from Boeing in a major win for the European plane maker that also triggered an upheaval in engine supplies.
(Reuters, 12/16/21)
2021 Dec 18, Australia reported record high new COVID-19 cases for a third day, with outbreaks growing in the two most populous states, however Prime Minister Scott Morrison continued to downplay the risks as the country eases pandemic curbs.
(Reuters, 12/18/21)
2021 Dec 19, A light plane crashed into waters off Australia's east coast this morning, killing all four people on board including two children.
(Reuters, 12/19/21)
2021 Dec 26, Australia’s state of New South Wales reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases and a sharp jump in hospitalizations while thousands of people were isolating at home after contracting the virus or coming into contact with someone who has.
(AP, 12/26/21)
2021 Dec 27, Australia reported its first confirmed death from the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 amid its biggest daily surge in infections, but the authorities refrained from imposing new restrictions saying hospitalization rates remained low.
(Reuters, 12/27/21)
2021 Dec, Elon Musk's Tesla company signed an agreement with Australia's Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world’s largest graphite mines in Mozambique. Tesla will buy the material from the company's processing plant in Vidalia, Louisiana, which sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique.
(AP, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 1, Australia started 2022 with a record number of new COVID-19 cases as an outbreak centered in the eastern states grew, and New South Wales eased its isolation rules for healthcare workers as the number of people hospitalized with the virus rose. New South Wales and Victoria both posted daily record case numbers of 22,577 and 7,442 respectively.
(Reuters, 1/1/22)
2022 Jan 2, New Australian COVID-19 cases dipped as testing slowed over a holiday weekend, but remained well over 30,000 and hospitalizations rose further in New South Wales as concerns grow about potential strains on the national health system.
(Reuters, 1/2/22)
2022 Jan 4, Australian COVID-19 cases soared to a pandemic record as the Omicron variant ripped through most of the country, driving up hospitalization rates as the once-formidable testing regime buckled under lengthy wait times and stock shortages.
(Reuters, 1/4/22)
2022 Jan 6, Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 men’s tennis player from Serbia, was told to leave Australia after a 10-hour standoff at a Melbourne airport. He remained in the country as he waited out a legal appeal over the validity of his visa and questions about the evidence supporting a medical exemption from a coronavirus vaccine.
(NY Times, 1/6/22)
2022 Jan 6, Australia and Japan hailed a new agreement to cooperate closely on defence as a breakthrough and a landmark, in the latest step to bolster security ties against the backdrop of rising Chinese military and economic might.
(Reuters, 1/6/22)
2022 Jan 7, In Australia Czech Renata Voracova (38) became the second Australian Open participant to be held in detention in a sweep by authorities on players entering the country with vaccination exemptions. Voracova decided to leave the country.
(Reuters, 1/7/22)
2022 Jan 8, Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths as the Omicron variant sweeps the country and lawmakers face pressure to close widening supply chain gaps.
(Reuters, 1/9/22)
2022 Jan 10, PM Scott Morrison said Australia must "push through" the fast-moving Omicron outbreak, as infections surpassed 1 million, more than half in the past week alone.
(Reuters, 1/10/22)
2022 Jan 10, An Australian judge ordered the release of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic from immigration detention. He has refused to be vaccinated for Covid-19, but had been cleared to play with a vaccination exemption.
(NY Times, 1/10/22)
2022 Jan 12, Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s tennis player, acknowledged that a travel document he presented to Australian border officials last week contained false information, as the country’s authorities continued to investigate whether he should be deported. Djokovic said he had participated in an interview and a photo shoot even after testing positive for the coronavirus, in an apparent violation of rules in his native Serbia.
(NY Times, 1/12/22)
2022 Jan 14, Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis star, had his visa revoked for a second time by the Australian authorities.
(NY Times, 1/14/22)
2022 Jan 16, Novak Djokovic’s last-ditch attempt to salvage his hopes of defending his Australian Open title failed, with judges ruling that Australia’s immigration minister was within his rights to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa for a second time on the basis that the player could pose a risk to public health and order. Serbia's premier and Novak Djokovic's family denounced as "scandalous" Australia's deportation of the tennis star for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.
(NY Times, 1/16/22)(Reuters, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 16, Australia's daily coronavirus infections fell below 100,000 for the first time in five days.
(Reuters, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 17, The Australian government and human rights groups said they are concerned about the deteriorating health of Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, three years after he was detained in China, and with a Beijing court yet to deliver a verdict in an espionage trial heard in secrecy eight months ago.
(Reuters, 1/17/22)
2022 Jan 18, Australia suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic as a fast-moving Omicron outbreak continued to push up hospitalization rates to record levels, even as daily infections eased slightly. 77 deaths were recorded.
(Reuters, 1/18/22)
2022 Jan 22, Three flights from Australia arrived in Tonga carrying food, water and medical supplies and telecommunications equipment as the country grappled with the aftermath of the Jan. 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami.
(SSFC, 1/23/22, p.A8)
2022 Jan 25, Australia recorded one of its highest number of deaths in a day from COVID-19 as an outbreak of the highly-infections Omicron variant tore through the country which marked two years since its first infection of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/25/22)
2022 Jan 25, Australian authorities said about two dozen cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among the crew of an Australian warship expected to arrive in coronavirus-free Tonga on Jan. 26 to deliver humanitarian aid.
(Reuters, 1/25/22)
2022 Jan 26, In Australia thousands rallied against the mistreatment of Indigenous people across the country as citizenship ceremonies took place to mark the country's national day intended to celebrate the birth of modern Australia.
(Reuters, 1/26/22)
2022 Jan 28, Australia suffered its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic with nearly 100 deaths, but several large states said they expect hospital admissions to fall amid hopes that the latest wave of infections would begin to subside.
(Reuters, 1/28/22)
2022 Jan 28, Australia's government pledged to spend another $1 billion Australian dollars ($704 million US) over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
(SFC, 1/29/22, p.A2)
2022 Jan 29, Australia's government said it will spend an additional A$50 million ($35 million) in the next four years to protect koala habitat and slow the decline of the vulnerable species.
(Reuters, 1/29/22)
2022 Jan 29, In Australia Ashleigh Barty (25) defeated Danielle Collins (28), becoming the first Australian player to win the tennis singles title since 1978.
(AP, 1/29/22)
2022 Jan 30, Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open men’s final. It’s his 21st Grand Slam title, a record in men’s singles.
(NY Times, 1/30/22)
2022 Jan 31, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said the federal government will offer extra payments to aged care staff as over 1,200 nursing homes deal with COVID-19 outbreaks that have caused hundreds of deaths of elderly residents this year and staff shortages.
(Reuters, 1/31/22)
2022 Jan 31, Australia reported its lowest daily COVID-19 deaths in two weeks while cases continued to trend lower as authorities braced for staff shortages in schools due to likely outbreaks as thousands of students return after their summer break.
(Reuters, 1/31/22)
2022 Feb 1, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto released an 85-page internal report with admissions of sexual assault, racism and bullying.
(Reuters, 2/2/22)
2022 Feb 11, In Australia foreign ministers of the so-called Quad group (the United States, Australia, Japan and India) pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion", a thinly veiled swipe at China's economic and military expansion.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 11, Australian media reported that Chinese spies sought to fund candidates for Australia's center-left Labor opposition party in an upcoming federal election but the plot was foiled by the national security agency.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 11, Australia listed koalas along much of its east coast as endangered after the native marsupial's habitats were hit by prolonged drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 12, In Australia and New Zealand days-long rallies against COVID-19 vaccination mandates picked up in numbers with protesters blocking roads and disrupting life in the countries' capitals.
(Reuters, 2/12/22)
2022 Feb 13, Preliminary reports indicated that Australian PM Scott Morrison's Liberal Party suffered a major upset in New South Wales state's by-elections.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 13, Australia said it was evacuating its embassy in Kyiv as the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border deteriorated quickly, with PM Scott Morrison calling on China to not remain "chillingly silent" on the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 13, In Australia several thousand protesters remained in place at Canberra's major showgrounds, while fewer than 100 demonstrators were gathered near the federal parliament building. Police have given thousands of protesters until the end of today to leave occupied areas of the country’s capital, as days-long rallies continue against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 15, In Australia thousands of nurses in New South Wales walked off the job for the first time in nearly a decade to begin a 24-hour strike after talks with the government to plug staff shortages and secure a pay rise failed.
(Reuters, 2/15/22)
2022 Feb 16, In Australia a shark killed a swimmer off a Sydney beach in the city's first fatal attack in nearly 60 years.
(Reuters, 2/16/22)
2022 Feb 16, Brazil-based Embraer said its electric aircraft subsidiary Eve has received orders from Australian charter firms Aviair, HeliSpirit and Microflite for up to 90 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs).
(Reuters, 2/16/22)
2022 Feb 18, Australia's New South Wales state ordered employers of freelance delivery drivers such as Amazon.com Inc to pay a minimum rate, a decision hailed by a union as making it the world's first jurisdiction to compel the retailer to follow laws on such payments. The measure, to be phased in over three years from March 1, requires companies which hire drivers with their own small vehicles to pay a minimum of A$37.80 ($27.20) per hour.
(Reuters, 2/18/22)
2022 Feb 19, Australia's Defense Department said a Chinese navy vessel had directed a laser at an Australian military aircraft in flight over Australia's northern approaches, illuminating the plane and potentially endangering lives.
(Reuters, 2/19/22)
2022 Feb 19, Australia recorded 43 coronavirus-related deaths, as it readies to welcome international tourists on Feb. 21 for the first time in nearly two years.
(Reuters, 2/19/22)
2022 Feb 21, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said a Chinese naval vessel that pointed a laser at an Australian military aircraft was so close to Australia's coast that it could have been seen from the shore, and urged a full Chinese investigation.
(Reuters, 2/21/22)
2022 Feb 21, Australia fully reopened its international borders to travelers vaccinated against the coronavirus after nearly two years of pandemic-related closings as tourists returned and hundreds of people were reunited with family and friends.
(Reuters, 2/21/22)
2022 Feb 22, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will spend just over A$804 million ($578 million) to buy drones and helicopters and set up mobile stations in Antarctica to strengthen Australia's national interests.
(Reuters, 2/22/22)
2022 Feb 27, A severe storm system pummeled Australia's northeastern city of Brisbane, causing evacuations, power outages and school closures as the death toll climbed to nine from accompanying flash floods.
(Reuters, 2/27/22)(NY Times, 2/28/22)
2022 Feb 28, An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report bluntly stated that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in crisis and suffering grave impacts from climate change, with frequent and severe coral bleaching caused by warming ocean temperatures.
(AP, 2/28/22)
2022 Mar 1, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has committed A$70 million ($50 million) to fund lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine, including missiles and ammunition.
(Reuters, 3/1/22)
2022 Mar 1, In eastern Australia military helicopters airlifted stranded people from rooftops of flooded neighborhoods and a tenth victim was found following days of torrential rain as the wild weather slowly shifts south toward Sydney.
(Reuters, 3/1/22)
2022 Mar 3, Authorities in Australia issued more orders for people to leave their homes after heavy rain triggered flash floods in its largest city, with officials warning of worse to come and some 500,000 people likely to face orders to evacuate.
(Reuters, 3/3/22)
2022 Mar 6, Sydney, Australia's most populous city, braced for more heavy downpours as the death toll from flooding across the country's east rose to 17.
(Reuters, 3/6/22)
2022 Mar 9, Australia declared a national emergency in response to devastating floods along its east coast, and designated catastrophe zones in towns swept away by swollen rivers. At least 21 people have died.
(Reuters, 3/9/22)
2022 Mar 14, Australia said it was imposing new sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs and business people, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(Reuters, 3/14/22)
2022 Mar 14, Australia and the Netherlands said they had begun joint legal action against Russia at the United Nations' aviation agency over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014.
(Reuters, 3/14/22)
2022 Mar 18, The Australian agency that manages the Great Barrier Reef said the reef has been hit by bleaching due to heat stress, ahead of a visit by United Nations officials reviewing whether the reef should be listed as being "in danger".
(Reuters, 3/18/22)
2022 Mar 20, Australia said it has imposed an immediate ban on exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia, as part of its ongoing sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
(Reuters, 3/20/22)
2022 Mar 22, Australia's Ashleigh Barty (25) surprisingly retired from tennis while ranked No. 1 and less than two months after winning the Australian Open for her third Grand Slam singles title.
(ESPN, 3/22/22)
2022 Mar 24, The Australian government announced that it had accepted an offer from New Zealand to resettle some refugees it currently or formerly held in its widely criticized system of offshore detention centers.
(NY Times, 3/24/22)
2022 Mar 25, Student activists converged on the Australian prime minister's official residence to demand stronger action against climate change, with recent floods that killed at least 20 people giving their campaign a sense of urgency.
(Reuters, 3/25/22)
2022 Mar 27, Britain's National Grid said it would sell a 60% stake in its British gas transmission and metering business to Australia's Macquarie Asset Management and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation as it shifts towards electricity.
(Reuters 3/27/22)
2022 Mar 29, Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg surprised analysts by increasing a tax break for 10 million low and middle income earners, ahead of an election in May, that would hit bank accounts in July.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, Heavy rains drenched east Australia, triggering evacuation orders for thousands of flood-weary residents for the second time this month as authorities warned the intense weather is likely to persist for the next 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, China protested to Australia for turning back Chinese students who had flown in to Sydney for not disclosing they had undergone mandatory military training at Chinese universities. It is compulsory for students at Chinese universities to go through a short stint of military training at the start of their first year, typically from seven to 24 days.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, India said it has committed to jointly invest $6 million with the Australian government to explore lithium and cobalt mines in Australia over the next six months, in a bid to firm up supplies of key minerals needed to further its electric vehicle plans.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Australia
End of file.
Return to home
2007 Jan 2, An Australian Aborigine tribe was granted joint management rights over several state and national parks under a deal that recognizes its traditional ownership of the land.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 5, Australia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia and China have ratified a nuclear agreement clearing the way for the export of uranium to feed Beijing's giant nuclear power program.
(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 9, An Australian zoo put a group of humans on display to raise awareness about primate conservation, with the proviso that they don't get up to any monkey business.
(Reuters, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 13, It was reported that thousands of birds had dropped dead over the past 3 weeks in Western Australia.
(SFC, 1/13/07, p.B8)
2007 Jan 14, Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell told national radio that Japanese whaling ships on their annual hunt in the Antarctic are banned from docking in Australia and should use restraint in looming clashes with protesters.
(AFP, 1/15/07)
2007 Jan 17, In southern Australia firefighters battled to contain a wildfire that razed a number of homes amid soaring temperatures and warnings that the worst was yet to come.
(AP, 1/17/07)
2007 Jan 25, Australia’s PM John Howard announced multibillion-dollar water reforms aimed at easing Australia's record drought.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2007 Jan 29, Australia’s Queensland state planned to introduce recycled sewage to its drinking water as a record drought threatens water supplies around the nation.
(AP, 1/29/07)
2007 Jan 30, In Australia Malcolm Turnbull took office as Minister of the Environment and Water.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Turnbull)
2007 Feb 15, The Australian government said it was negotiating with the US on a plan to build a military satellite communications facility in Perth. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said the two nations had negotiated for two years to build a number of ground-based communications systems around Australia.
(AP, 2/15/07)
2007 Feb 20, Claiming a world first for a national government, Australia’s Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said incandescent lightbulbs would be phased out by 2010 in favor of the more fuel-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
(AFP, 2/20/07)
2007 Feb 22, Police clashed with demonstrators protesting the visit of Vice President Dick Cheney hours before he arrived in Australia to thank one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.
(AP, 2/22/07)
2007 Feb 23, An Australian soldier opened fire on a group of East Timorese attacking him with steel arrows, killing one of the youths and critically wounding two.
(AP, 2/23/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Malawi Garnet Halliday (50), a senior Australian mining executive in charge of the development of a new uranium mine, died with his pilot when his chartered light aircraft crashed.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, At least two people were killed when a cyclone slammed into Australia's northwest coast, paralyzing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
(AFP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 12, Australia's Muslims announced plans to form a political party to fight what they call growing Islamophobia spawned by the so-called war on terror.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 12, In outback Australia floodwaters flowed into the world's largest ephemeral lake, triggering a once-in-a-decade explosion of bird and fish life in place of arid salt flats. The Lake Eyre basin itself covers an area bigger than France, Germany and Italy. The basin last topped its maximum five meter depth in 1974.
(Reuters, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 13, Australia and Japan signed a groundbreaking defense pact in Tokyo that the leaders of both countries stressed was not aimed at reining in China, but the road ahead for a two-way trade deal looked rougher.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 14, Cricket’s World Cup began with the 1st match between Australia and Scotland on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. The ICC Cricket World Cup was hosted by the West Indies from March 13 to April 28, 2007.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Cricket_World_Cup#Venues)
2007 Mar 14, It was reported that wild camels in drought-stricken Australia were in plague proportions, damaging the environment and property. Australia claimed the world's largest wild camel population. An estimated one million feral camels, whose numbers double every eight years, competed for food and water with native animals and livestock.
(Reuters, 3/14/07)
2007 Mar 23, Australia called on South Africa to pressure Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to quit, saying the 83-year-old leader was a disaster for his country. South Africa defended its policy on Zimbabwe as the only way to approach Mugabe's authoritarian government and said African nations might convene a summit to deal with the crisis.
(AFP, 3/23/07)(Reuters, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 26, David Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, entered a surprise guilty plea at the first session of the tribunals set up after the US Supreme Court struck down the Pentagon's previous efforts to try Guantanamo prisoners.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Mar 28, In Australia a passenger ferry plowed into a pleasure boat under Sydney's iconic Harbor Bridge, killing at least 3 people, including two professional figure skating judges.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Mar 30, A military judge at Guantanamo Bay said the prison sentence of David Hicks (31), an Australian detainee who pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism. would be limited to seven years under terms of a plea bargain. Marine Corps Judge Col. Ralph Kohlmann said all but nine months would be suspended. The deal required his silence about alleged abuse.
(AP, 3/30/07)(AP, 3/31/07)
2007 Mar 30, Leaked extracts of a UN report said Australia will suffer more droughts, fires, floods and storms due to global warming and its famous Great Barrier Reef will be devastated by 2030.
(AFP, 3/30/07)
2007 Apr 5, Australian police charged two men, including an army captain, with stealing military rocket launchers, some of which ended up in the hands of a suspected terrorist.
(AFP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 13, Australia’s PM John Howard said that people with HIV should not be allowed to migrate to Australia, and that the government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2007 Apr 17, Australian officials said that the US and Australia signed an agreement last week to exchange a few hundred refugees held at island detention camps in an effort by both governments to discourage future asylum seekers.
(Reuters, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 18, A catamaran was discovered deserted off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with the sails up, engine running and food on the table. Its crew of 3 was last seen April 15.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 28, Australia's centre-left Labor Party scrapped its 25-year ban on new uranium mines in a move miners said would encourage new investment and growth in the industry.
(AP, 4/28/07)
2007 Apr 28, In Jamaica the 7-week, 1st Cricket World Cup ended with Australia defeating Sri Lanka.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.48)
2007 Apr 30, Miles Hilton-Barber (58), A blind British adventurer, touched down in Sydney Monday to end an epic 13,500-mile flight by microlight aircraft from London. His 54-day journey was performed under the supervision of sighted co-pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 May 1, Australian police arrested two men accused of raising money for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on the pretext of collecting donations for victims of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 3, Australia signed the first in a series of contracts that will see its air force buy 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter-bombers from the US Navy.
(AP, 5/3/07)
2007 May 7, Australian gangster Carl Williams was sentenced to 35 years in jail for murdering three underworld rivals in a gangland war which lasted almost 10 years and killed 28 people.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 8, It was reported that groups of elderly Australians are setting up backyard laboratories to manufacture an illegal euthanasia drug so they can kill themselves when they have had enough of life.
(AFP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 10, EnGeneIC, an Australian biotechnology firm, said it had developed a means of delivering anti-cancer drugs directly to cancer cells, which aims to avoid the debilitating toxicity associated with chemotherapy.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 13, Australia’s PM John Howard said the Australian government has banned the country's cricket team from touring Zimbabwe in September because he does not want to support the regime of a "grubby dictator."
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 14, An Australian teenager was awarded record damages including a lifetime income after a court found that his life had been ruined by bullying at primary school. Australian authorities said they want to shoot more than 3,000 kangaroos on the fringes of Canberra, noting the animals were growing in population and eating through the grassy habitats of endangered species.
(AFP, 5/14/07)(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 20, Confessed Australian al-Qaida supporter David Hicks was transferred to a maximum security prison in his hometown after spending more than five years at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(AP, 5/20/07)
2007 May 21, Mining giant Rio Tinto and energy powerhouse BP announced plans for a $1.5 billion coal-fired power project in Australia which would capture carbon dioxide to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 23, Australian PM John Howard and his Greek counterpart Kostas Karamanlis sealed a deal which concluded a decades-long debate over pensions for one of the world's largest expatriate Greek communities.
(AFP, 5/23/07)
2007 May 29, President Bush's environmental adviser said the US rejects the EU's all-encompassing target on reduction of carbon emissions. The US and Australia ruled out a regional carbon trading scheme before the meeting officially opened in the northern city of Darwin, saying it was too early to impose uniform targets on APEC nations. APEC members already account for 60% of global energy demand and their needs are expected to almost double by 2030. Fidel Castro lambasted President Bush for opposing the EU's goal for an agreement on carbon emissions at next week's Group of Eight summit.
(AFP, 5/29/07)(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 May 31, Australia and the Philippines agreed to expand counter-terrorism cooperation, with elite Australian troops to train their Philippine counterparts in the restive south.
(AFP, 5/31/07)
2007 May, Australia’s Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal ruled that the Peel Hotel in the southern city of Melbourne could exclude patrons based on their sexuality.
(Reuters, 5/28/07)
2007 May, In Australia the Slater & Gordon law firm went public and used the proceeds to go on an acquisition spree, swallowing 6 smaller rivals within a year.
(Econ, 8/23/08, p.55)
2007 Jun 3, Australia’s PM John Howard ditched his opposition to a greenhouse gas reduction target for Australia with a pledge to set a national pollution limit next year.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 5, A passenger train and truck collided at a rail crossing in southern Australia, killing 11 people and injuring up to 50.
(AP, 6/5/07)(AP, 6/6/07)
2007 Jun 5, Tony Mokbel (42), a top Australian fugitive, was arrested in Greece. The next day he accused Australia's authorities of saddling him with a bogus murder charge to secure his extradition. Mokbel had fled overseas in 2006 while on bail for importing cocaine.
(AFP, 6/6/07)
2007 Jun 8, A wild storm lashed Australia's east coast, killing at least five people. The Pasha Bulker, massive coal ship, was pushed onto a sand bank off the port city of Newcastle, some 90 miles north of Sydney.
(AP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 12, Australian PM John Howard agreed to meet the Dalai Lama after opponents charged he was afraid of offending China, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing. The Dalai Lama warned major nations not to try to contain China's economic and military rise, and urged countries like Australia to use their trading clout to pressure Beijing on human rights.
(AP, 6/12/07)(Reuters, 6/12/07)
2007 Jun 12, In Australia outraged victims in the Hunter and Central Coast areas north of Sydney said looters raided abandoned houses, businesses and cars during four days of violent storms, stealing everything from iPods to alcohol and cigarettes.
(AP, 6/12/07)
2007 Jun 14, In Australia New Zealand PM Helen Clark met briefly with the Dalai Lama as they both toured Australia, where the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit has drawn fire from China.
(AFP, 6/14/07)
2007 Jun 15, Australian PM John Howard met the Dalai Lama triggering an angry reaction from China who accused the premier of turning a "deaf ear" to its concerns. A government report said child sex abuse is rampant among Aborigines in remote northern Australia, blaming widespread drunkenness and the breakdown of traditional societies as among the root causes.
(AP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 18, In Australia a good Samaritan who tried to rescue a woman being dragged by her hair on a busy Melbourne street was shot dead and two other people were wounded when her attacker opened fire. On June 20 a Hells Angel biker was charged with the murder after surrendering to authorities.
(AFP, 6/18/07)(AFP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 20, Australia announced that it will spend 9.3 billion US dollars on five Spanish-designed warships to boost its capacity to face military threats in the region.
(AP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 21, Australia's PM John Howard announced plans for the federal government to take control of 60 aboriginal communities in the Northern Territories. Plans also included a ban on pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in the northern areas and tightened control over their welfare benefits to fight child sex abuse among them.
(AP, 6/21/07)(Econ, 6/30/07, p.50)
2007 Jun 25, Police and soldiers began deploying to outback Australia as part of a radical plan to end child sex abuse in Aboriginal communities which has been criticized as a return to the nation's paternalistic past.
(AP, 6/25/07)
2007 Jun 28, Dramatic flooding replaced relentless drought in parts of eastern Australia, as PM John Howard expressed hopes that the country's worst drought in a century may be coming to an end.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 1, Australian media reported that PM John Howard is secretly planning to begin withdrawing Australian troops from Iraq by February 2008. Howard denied the report, saying the idea was "absurd."
(AFP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 2, Police in Australia arrested a 27-year-old Indian doctor over the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow, and were interviewing a second doctor in the case.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 2, Australia's second largest retailer Coles said it had agreed to a 22 billion dollar (18.7 billion US) buyout offer from conglomerate Wesfarmers, the largest corporate deal in Australian history.
(AP, 7/2/07)
2007 Jul 6, Australia kicked off a round-the-world series of Live Earth music concerts designed to highlight climate change with a traditional Aboriginal welcome ceremony. Former US vice-president Al Gore appeared on video screens to launch the worldwide initiative.
(AFP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 12, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto launched a 38.1-billion-dollar offer for Canada's Alcan, trumping US rival Alcoa in a mammoth bid to create the world's largest aluminium company.
(AP, 7/12/07)
2007 Jul 14, In London an Indian doctor arrested the same day his brother allegedly drove a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas bombs into Glasgow's main airport was charged with a terrorism offense. A distant cousin in Australia was also charged in the failed attacks in London and Glasgow.
(AP, 7/14/07)
2007 Jul 15, Antun Gudelj (59), a Croatian man charged with killing three police officials in the early days of the 1991 Serb-Croat war, was extradited from Australia to Croatia to face a new trial after an earlier pardon.
(AP, 7/15/07)
2007 Jul 26, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta asked visiting Australian PM John Howard to keep Australian peacekeepers in the young nation until the end of 2008.
(AFP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 27, Mohamed Haneef (27), an Indian doctor, was freed from custody after Australia's chief prosecutor said that a charge linking him to failed terrorist bombings in Britain was a mistake. In 2010 Haneef accepted what his lawyer described as a "substantial" but confidential settlement for his ordeal in which authorities incorrectly linked him to failed car bombings at airports in London and Glasgow.
(AP, 7/27/07)(AFP, 12/21/10)
2007 Aug 1, The South Australian Supreme Court ordered its own state government to pay Bruce Trevorrow $448,000 for damages caused when he was taken from his parents without their knowledge 50 years ago.
(AP, 8/2/07)
2007 Aug 8, Australia's central bank hiked interest rates 0.25 points to a decade-high 6.5 percent in an unprecedented pre-election move that the government admitted creates a political headache.
(AFP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 14, A new study said nearly every Australian city will have to find new water supplies over the next decade as climate change and population growth stretch the nation's already limited water resources.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Aug 16, Australia’s PM John Howard said he would lift a ban on selling uranium to India, subject to strict conditions.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.40)
2007 Aug 21, An Australian court ruled that the country's immigration minister wrongly revoked a work visa for an Indian doctor who was briefly accused of links with a failed British car bomb plot in June.
(AP, 8/21/07)
2007 Aug 22, A distributor said Chinese-made blankets containing high levels of formaldehyde have been recalled across Australia and New Zealand, amid rising global concern over the safety of products from China.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 25, Australia's multi-billion dollar racing industry was plunged into turmoil on after an outbreak of equine influenza triggered a national lockdown.
(Reuters, 8/25/07)
2007 Aug 26, Australia released a new draft citizenship test. The 40-page document outlining citizenship application procedures said migrants who want to become Australian citizens will have to be able to correctly identify the country's prime minister and national flower.
(AFP, 8/26/07)
2007 Aug 30, A major new study said nearly 10 percent of Australians are living in poverty despite a booming economy, but its findings were disputed by PM John Howard.
(AP, 8/30/07)
2007 Aug 31, Australia and India agreed to study the possibility of a free trade agreement. Trade Minister Warren Truss said it was a natural result of New Delhi's rising economic power.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Sep 3, Climate change activists staged a break-in at an Australian power station as a pattern of guerrilla-style raids emerged ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney.
(AFP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 4, In Australia 2 Indonesians were jailed over a people-smuggling operation to bring 83 Sri Lankans into Australia. The two pleaded guilty to smuggling 83 Sri Lankans into Australian waters in February near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
(AFP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 4, US President George W. Bush arrived in Sydney for a regional summit with the city locked down in the biggest security operation in Australian history.
(AP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 4, 5-nation war games began in the Bay of Bengal. Indian and US aircraft carriers launched fighter jets into the air as American submarines cruised below Japanese, Australian and Singaporean warships.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 5, In Australia President Bush urged Pacific Rim nations to band together on tackling global warming, saying all major polluters must be part of any solution.
(AP, 9/5/07)
2007 Sep 6, Australian PM John Howard said he would tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would not approve the sale of uranium to Moscow if there was any possibility it could be resold to Iran or Syria.
(Reuters, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 6, In Australia Pacific Rim nations agreed that climate change was of "vital interest," but officials squabbled over whether their leaders should include energy efficiency targets in a statement at their annual summit. China’s President Hu Jintao, on the defensive over recalls of tainted toothpaste, pet food and toys, told President Bush that Beijing was stepping up product safety inspections.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 7, Leaders of Australia and Russia signed a deal to export Australian uranium to fuel Russian nuclear reactors, but promised it would not be transferred to Iran's disputed atomic program.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 7, In Australia Pacific Rim negotiators agreed on a joint statement on global warming that would ask developing nations to commit to energy efficiency targets and acknowledge that wealthy countries have greater responsibility for the problem.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 8, Asia Pacific leaders overcame differences on climate change to agree to take action against greenhouse gases at a key summit protected by the tightest security in Australian history.
(AP, 9/8/07)
2007 Sep 14, Australian police confirmed that corrupt police officers were linked with a bloody gangland war which raged for years in the country's second largest city. Melbourne's criminal war began in the late 1990s and claimed 29 lives.
(AFP, 9/14/07)
2007 Sep 19, New Zealand police found the body of Anan Liu (27), a young Asian woman in a car outside the home of a three-year old toddler, Qian Xun Xue, nicknamed "Pumpkin," who was abandoned at a train station in Australia. The father Nai Zin Xue (54), a martial arts expert and magazine publisher, caught a flight to Los Angeles after abandoning the toddler. US authorities launched a manhunt for Xue, who was captured nearly five months later by six Chinese Americans near Atlanta, Georgia. In 2009 a New Zealand jury found him guilty of his wife's murder.
(Reuters, 9/19/07)(AP, 6/19/09)
2007 Sep 21, Australia’s ex-senator Bob Collins (b.1946), who served as a minister in the early 1990s, died, days before he was due to face a hearing on 21 charges of child sex abuse dating back three decades.
(AFP, 9/26/07)
2007 Sep 24, An Australian man was conscious and spoke to his medical team during life-saving brain surgery in what doctors are claiming as a world-first procedure with cutting-edge technology.
(AP, 9/24/07)
2007 Sep 28, Australia's Anglican Church said women can be appointed bishops for the first time, drawing immediate criticism from conservatives.
(AFP, 9/28/07)
2007 Sep 29, Lois Maxwell (b.1927), the woman James Bond never seduced, died in Western Australia. The Canadian-born actress, born as Lois Ruth Hooker, took on the Miss Moneypenny role in 1962 alongside Sean Connery in "Dr No," and continued for 14 Bond films. Her films also included "Bedtime For Bonzo" with Ronald Reagan.
(AFP, 10/1/07)
2007 Oct 2, Australia’s Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said that over the past two years the intake of Africans has been cut from 70% of the total of 13,000 refugees to just 30%.
(AFP, 10/2/07)
2007 Oct 3, PM John Howard said Australia will not take any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year. He said Australia's 13,000-a-year refugee intake was being "rebalanced" from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute.
(AFP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 4, The Australian government approved plans for a controversial multi-billion-dollar pulp mill in Tasmania despite objections it could ruin one of the country's most pristine environments.
(AFP, 10/4/07)
2007 Oct 8, Australia suffered its first combat fatality in the war on terror when a soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/8/07)
2007 Oct 9, Australia's third richest man, cardboard box billionaire Richard Pratt, apologized for forming a price-fixing cartel with his main rival Amcor.
(AFP, 10/9/07)
2007 Oct 17, In Australia a group of children playing in a suburban Sidney park opened a suitcase they found floating in a pond and discovered the body of a youngster inside.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 21, Australia's opposition Labor Party chief Kevin Rudd beat PM Howard in an election debate marred by controversy when a national television network's coverage was deliberately cut. Rudd had once worked as a business consultant in China and spoke fluent Mandarin.
(AFP, 10/22/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.52)
2007 Oct 24, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said all conditions on its $38.1 billion takeover of Alcan Inc had been satisfied and most shareholders had accepted its offer.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 30, An Indonesian court dismissed a legal challenge to the death penalty brought by lawyers for members of an Australian drugs gang on death row for heroin smuggling.
(AFP, 10/30/07)
2007 Nov 7, Australia's central bank raised interest rates 0.25 points to an 11-year high of 6.75 percent in a move expected to hurt PM John Howard's re-election hopes.
(AFP, 11/7/07)
2007 Nov 11, Animal rights activists attacked as inhumane an Australian state government's plans to shoot more than 10,000 wild horses to protect the environment.
(AP, 11/11/07)
2007 Nov 12, Voters cast the first ballots in Australia's elections as a new opinion poll showed conservative PM John Howard heading for a landslide defeat.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 14, Labor party leader Kevin Rudd, the man tipped to become Australia's next prime minister, officially launched his pitch for office with pledges to withdraw combat troops from Iraq and usher in an "education revolution."
(AFP, 11/14/07)
2007 Nov 15, Greenpeace protesters stormed an Australian power plant after a US report condemned Australian electricity plants as some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases. 15 protesters were arrested after they chained themselves to conveyor belts at the Munmorah power plant on the central coast of New South Wales state.
(AFP, 11/15/07)
2007 Nov 16, A coroner urged the Australian government to seek war crimes charges against former Indonesian military officers over the 1975 killing of five Australian newsmen during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 18, Three members of Iraq's Olympic soccer team and their assistant coach left the team during a trip to Australia and are seeking asylum in the country.
(AP, 11/19/07)
2007 Nov 23, In Afghanistan Taliban militants beheaded 7 police officers after overrunning their checkpoints. An Australian commando (26) and 3 civilians were killed in a clash with Taliban militia in Uruzgan province. In 2008 the Australian military cleared its soldiers over the deaths of two women and a baby during this battle but said all civilian casualties were "highly regrettable."
(Reuters, 11/23/07)(SFC, 11/24/07, p.A3)(AFP, 5/12/08)
2007 Nov 24, In Australia conservative PM John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the left-leaning opposition. Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia's combat troops from Iraq.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Nov 25, Newly elected leader Kevin Rudd moved quickly to bring Australia into international talks on fighting global warming, and to head off potentially thorny relations with the United States and key Asian neighbors.
(AP, 11/25/07)
2007 Nov 29, Australia’s PM-elect Kevin Rudd named his Cabinet, choosing a woman as deputy leader for the first time, a former rock singer as environment minister and a lawyer from the Outback as foreign minister.
(AP, 11/29/07)
2007 Nov 30, Australian PM-elect Kevin Rudd said he would pull the country's 550 combat troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Nov 30, India's Tata Steel signed a joint venture with Australia's Riversdale Mining to develop a hard coking and thermal coal project in Mozambique.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Dec 2, In Australia night time thieves stole 17.6 tons of ham and bacon from a warehouse in suburban Sidney and left behind a message saying “Thanks" and “Merry Christmas." The stolen meat was worth up to $88,000.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 3, Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th prime minister and immediately began dismantling the former government's policies by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 5, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd spoke at the state funeral for Bernie Banton (61), who died from an asbestos-related disease he contracted while working for building products company James Hardie. Banton's dogged campaign ultimately led to the establishment of a 4 billion dollar (3.5 billion US) compensation fund for victims of Hardie's asbestos products.
(AFP, 12/5/07)
2007 Dec 7, Australian police said they had smashed an international cocaine smuggling ring spanning three continents and operating out of the Netherlands, Thailand and Canada. Of the total 40 people arrested, 14 Canadian and Australian nationals of Chinese and Vietnamese descent were picked up in Sydney and Melbourne over the past six months. Australian conman Peter Foster, once linked to the "Cheriegate" scandal involving the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, was jailed for money laundering. Foster, who pleaded guilty to a charge related to fraudulently obtaining 234,000 US dollars from the Bank of the Federated States of Micronesia, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.
(AFP, 12/7/07)(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 10, Australia accepted seven asylum seekers from Myanmar as refugees as the country's new Labor government began unwinding tough immigration laws which force boatpeople into detention on Pacific island nations.
(AP, 12/10/07)
2007 Dec 11, Australia's Deputy PM Julia Gillard (46) took charge of government in the absence of the prime minister, becoming the first woman to run the country in its 106 years as an independent nation. Gillard will lead the government for just 60 hours while PM Kevin Rudd is in Bali for the United Nations climate conference.
(Reuters, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 11, Australian officials conceded that the welfare system failed a girl who was removed from a remote Aboriginal community after being sexually abused at age 7, then gang raped in 2006 at age 10 when she was returned to live in the town.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 12, In Indonesia new Australian PM Kevin Rudd completed ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as he pressed for all nations, rich and poor, to commit to fighting global warming.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 14, Australian PM Kevin Rudd and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon jetted into East Timor to lend support to the nation's efforts to stabilize and rebuild after violence last year. Rudd pledged to support the nation's ongoing security needs during the five-hour stop.
(AP, 12/14/07)(AFP, 12/14/07)
2007 Dec 16, Australian police said they had broken up an alleged nationwide child porn ring with the arrest of six men overnight, including a former policeman, a trainee teacher and a swimming instructor.
(AFP, 12/16/07)
2007 Dec 18, An official said Australian copper thieves have turned tomb raiders, pilfering plaques and vases from cemeteries to sell the metal for scrap.
(AP, 12/18/07)
2007 Dec 21, New Australian PM Kevin Rudd met with al-Maliki during a surprise visit to Baghdad. Rudd said that after the troops withdraw in June, Australia will continue to help train the Iraqi police force and army. A gunmen attacked a family in Diyala province near Balad Ruz, killing two men and kidnapping a third. Just east of Baqouba, the capital of Diyala, two men standing in front of their house were killed by unknown armed men.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 29, In Australia David Hicks, the only person convicted of terrorism charges at a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, walked free and said he did not want to do "anything that might result in my return" to the prison in Cuba.
(AP, 12/29/07)
2007 Julian Assange, a former Australian hacker, founded Wikileaks, an international publishing service for whistle-blowers.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.67)
2007 The wine boom in Australia went bust forcing many farmers to walk away from grapes and land they could not sell.
(Econ, 3/29/08, p.84)
2007 Australia’s environment minister Malcolm Turnbull (b.1954) gave the green light for a liquefied natural gas project dubbed Gorgon.
(Econ, 11/26/16, p.37)
2007 Australia, India, Japan, and the US met for a "quadrilateral dialogue" on security matters. The first iteration of the Quad ceased to exist following the withdrawal of Australia in February 2008. The pact was revived in 2017.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrilateral_Security_Dialogue)(Econ., 11/21/20, p.36)
2008 Jan 5, Heavy rains caused flooding across parts of eastern Australia, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people as rural towns throughout the area were put on flood alert.
(AP, 1/5/08)
2008 Jan 7, Australians battled both fires and some of the worst flooding in decades that stranded residents in several communities after days of intense summer heat and storms.
(AP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 8, Nauru’s foreign minister said Australia's plans to close a much-criticized detention center for asylum seekers on Nauru will devastate its economy.
(AFP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 11, A historic passenger jet flight from Australia to Antarctica touched down smoothly on a blue ice runway, launching the only regular airlink between the continents.
(AP, 1/11/08)
2008 Jan 13, Two young adventurers completed a 62-day paddle of more than 2,000 miles to become the first people to travel from Australia to New Zealand by kayak.
(AP, 1/13/08)
2008 Jan 15, Australia's new government told an Indian envoy that it will not sell uranium to his country while it is not a member of the global nonproliferation treaty.
(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 15, An Australian judge banned the company that conducts Japan's whale hunt from killing the animals in a large part of its regular hunting grounds off Antarctica. Japanese whalers said they are holding captive two activists who "illegally" boarded their vessel in the Southern Ocean, in a dramatic escalation in the battle between the two sides.
(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 17, Australia said it would send a ship to pick up two anti-whaling activists who jumped on a Japanese harpoon vessel from a rubber boat in Antarctic waters, offering a solution to a tense, two-day standoff on the high seas.
(AP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 18, Two activists who had jumped on board a Japanese whaling boat were returned to their ship by Australian officials.
(AP, 1/18/08)
2008 Jan 21, In northeastern Australia surging floodwaters forced scores of people to evacuate their homes. Farmers described the heavy rains as a mixed blessing after years of drought.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 22, North Korea said it will close its embassy in Australia because it can no longer afford it.
(AP, 1/22/08)
2008 Jan 22, Heath Ledger (28), an Australian-born actor, was found dead at a Manhattan apartment. He received an Oscar nomination for his role as a troubled gay cowboy in the 2006 film, "Brokeback Mountain." The NYC medical examiner later said Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs.
(AP, 1/22/08)(AP, 2/6/08)
2008 Jan 23, In Australia the final issue of The Bulletin magazine was published. It was launched in 1880 and became an institution in Australian publishing.
(AP, 1/24/08)
2008 Jan 24, Doctors said an Australian girl spontaneously switched blood groups and adopted her donor's immune system following a liver transplant in the first known case of its type. Demi-Lee Brennan was aged nine and seriously ill with liver failure when she received the transplant. Nine months later it was discovered that she had changed blood types and her immune system had switched over to that of the donor after stem cells from the new liver migrated to her bone marrow. She was now a healthy 15-year-old.
(AFP, 1/24/08)
2008 Jan 27, In Australia an Aborigine elder, Mr. Ward (b.1961), died of heatstroke during a four-hour, non-stop trip to face a drink-driving charge in a prison van with broken air-conditioning. In 2010 state director of public prosecutions Joe McGrath told Ward's widow that charges would not be laid against the two guards employed by security firm GSL, now known as G4S, who were in charge of the van. In 2010 Ward’s family was awarded 3.2 million Australian dollars ($2.9 million) in compensation.
(AFP, 6/28/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Ward)(AP, 7/29/10)
2008 Feb 1, An Australian report said that Japanese harpoonists killed five whales in one day after Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd ships, which had halted the hunt in Antarctic waters, were forced to return to port to refuel.
(AFP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 3, Australian PM Kevin Rudd announced a summit of 1,000 ordinary citizens to address long-term challenges facing the nation, saying the best ideas could influence government policy. He also scolded the country's opposition for haggling over the exact content of a planned apology to Australia's Aborigines, saying its meaning will be quite clear.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 7, A new security pact between Australia and Indonesia came into force at a ceremony in Perth attended by the foreign ministers of the at-times testy neighbors.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 8, Australia's widely criticized "Pacific Solution" policy of holding asylum seekers on remote islands ended when the last detainees flew out of Nauru to live in Australia.
(AFP, 2/8/08)
2008 Feb 12, East Timor declared a state of emergency. Australian troops and a warship arrived to boost security after rebel attacks on the country's two top leaders left the president in "extremely serious" condition with gunshot wounds.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 13, Australians watched a live broadcast of their government apologizing for policies that degraded its indigenous people. PM Rudd said Australians had reached a time in their history when they must face up to their past to be able to cope with the future. Aborigines numbered about 450,000 in Australia's population of 21 million.
(AP, 2/13/08)
2008 Feb 15, Representatives for Australian Aborigines confirmed plans to launch the first compensation lawsuits since a landmark government apology earlier this week for past abuses.
(AP, 2/15/08)
2008 Feb 21, Australia's new government confirmed that it would withdraw its combat troops from Iraq by mid-year but pledged strong ties with the United States ahead of landmark talks this week.
(AP, 2/21/08)
2008 Mar 1, In Australia up to 300,000 people lined Sydney's streets to watch the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, as the largest gay pride march in the Asia Pacific region marked its 30th anniversary.
(AP, 3/1/08)
2008 Mar 1, BHP Billiton, Melbourne-based mining giant, said it plans to invest $975 million to upgrade and expand its thermal coal mines in South Africa to sustain coal exports amid soaring coal prices.
(Reuters, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 4, The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its official cash-rate target by a quarter point to 7.25% in an effort to tighten credit as inflation remained problematic.
(WSJ, 3/5/08, p.A2)
2008 Mar 4, An Australian aquaculture company claimed a world first in artificially breeding endangered southern bluefin tuna.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 5, Australia cancelled a one billion dollar (930 million US) contract for US-made Seasprite helicopters following a review of the troubled project.
(AFP, 3/5/08)
2008 Mar 7, Australian officials said police have rescued 10 South Korean women who were forced to work in a Sydney brothel by a sex slavery syndicate that lured them to Australia with promises of legitimate jobs.
(AP, 3/7/08)
2008 Mar 7, Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a protest ship harassing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, said he was shot in a high-seas clash and his crew members pelted with flash grenades, injuring one. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Japanese officials insisted only warning devices were fired.
(AFP, 3/7/08)
2008 Mar 12, In Australia police said a quarter-ton of cocaine with a street value of more than 80 million US dollars has been seized after being shipped in from Southeast Asia.
(AFP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 14, In Australia Milton Orkopoulos (50), a former New South Wales state minister, was convicted on child sex and drugs charges after being described as a "sordid genius" by prosecutors.
(AFP, 3/14/08)
2008 Mar 18, Protesters in Australia burned Chinese flags, demanding freedom for Tibet, following similar demonstrations in Europe and the US against Beijing's crackdown on anti-government riots in the Himalayan region.
(AP, 3/18/08)
2008 Mar 29, Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge went dark as the world's first major city turned off its lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
(AP, 3/29/08)
2008 Apr 1, An Australian court charged a Vietnam Airlines pilot with smuggling millions of dollars in drug profits out of the country. Quoc Viet Lai (58,) faced 40 counts of money laundering after allegedly taking 3.7 million dollars (3.4 million US) out of Australia between June 2005 and June 2006.
(AFP, 4/1/08)
2008 Apr 2, Australia began pumping carbon dioxide underground to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, using a technology that locks dangerous gases deep in the Earth.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 7, In Australia 5 teenage boys armed with machetes and baseball bats invaded a Sydney high school, smashing classrooms and injuring 18 students and a teacher.
(AFP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 8, An Australian man was sentenced to nearly three years in jail for shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter and temporarily blinding the pilot.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 10, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd met China's premier for talks expected to touch on what Rudd has called significant human rights problems in Tibet. Rudd said Chinese paramilitary police will not be allowed to run alongside the Olympic torch in Australia, after their heavy-handed tactics drew criticism in earlier legs of the relay.
(AP, 4/10/08)
2008 Apr 13, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd named Queensland governor Quentin Bryce as the next governor-general, the first woman to act as the British queen's representative in the country.
(AFP, 4/13/08)
2008 Apr 19, In Australia PM Rudd opened a summit of the nation's top minds to discuss fresh policy ideas for the future.
(Reuters, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 21, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announced that Australia has extended control of its continental shelf by nearly 1 million square miles under an agreement with the UN.
(AP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 28, In Australia police in Perth arrested Robert Agius (58) on charges of running a money laundering scheme that helped clients avoid taxes by transferring $93 million through offshore bank accounts.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 Apr 29, Australia's government promised to spend about $2.9 billion to buy river water from farmers in a bid to address the country's worst drought in a century.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 30, Attorney General Robert McClelland said Australian gay and lesbian couples will have the same rights as heterosexuals under new laws but marriage will remain off limits.
(AFP, 4/30/08)
2008 Apr 30, Western Australia state police raided the Perth offices of the Sunday Times, which is published by Australia's largest newspaper publisher, Rupert Murdoch's News Limited. Staff said police were searching for the source of a leak that led to a story alleging the state government planned to use 16 million dollars (14.9 million US) in taxpayer funds on an advertising campaign to help its re-election.
(AFP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 1, In Australia 6 people were killed in Sydney Harbor when a boat packed with revelers on a nighttime joyride and a fishing trawler collided.
(Reuters, 5/1/08)(AP, 5/2/08)
2008 May 13, Two major Australian banks agreed to a proposed merger which would create the nation's biggest financial services group worth around 66 billion dollars (62 billion US). St George, the country's fifth-largest bank, said it had agreed to an 18.6 billion dollar offer from Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia's third-largest bank by market capitalization.
(AFP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 16, In Australia protesting pensioners brought traffic to a stand still in Melbourne when some stripped to demand more money from the government.
(AFP, 5/16/08)
2008 May 19, In Australia the Tasmania state government said the Tasmanian devil will be listed as an endangered species this week as a result of a deadly and disfiguring cancer outbreak. Animal rights activists said Australian authorities have started the controversial killing of about 400 kangaroos on the outskirts of Australia's capital of Canberra.
(AFP, 5/19/08)(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 21, In Australia Milton Orkopoulos (50), the former New South Wales state minister for Aboriginal affairs, was jailed for nearly 14 years on child sex and drugs charges.
(AFP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 27, An Australian town council unanimously rejected a contentious proposal to build a 1,200-student Islamic school, citing infrastructure concerns. Mayor Chris Patterson of Camden said the decision had nothing to do with religion but was based on the impact on traffic and loss of agricultural land.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 Jun 1, Australia, a staunch US ally and one of the first countries to commit troops to the Iraq war five years ago, ended combat operations there.
(AP, 6/1/08)
2008 Jun 2, In Australia Mark Standen, an assistant director of the New South Wales state Crime Commission, was arrested for conspiracy to import controlled substances and supply prohibited drugs, and with perverting the course of justice. He is alleged to have assisted a drug-trafficking syndicate in a plan to bring to Australia 1,300 pounds of the chemical pseudoephedrine that could be used to make $114 million worth of the methamphetamine known as "ice." The masterminds of the syndicate were in the Netherlands, where 12 people were arrested last week.
(AP, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 5, Australian police said 70 men have been arrested in a global crackdown on Internet child pornography and more will be detained.
(AFP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 13, The leaders of Australia and Indonesia pledged to join forces to fight climate change by saving forests and promoting carbon trading.
(AFP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 18, An Australian government minister warned a drought crisis needed urgent attention or a crucial river system could suffer permanent ecological damage by October.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 20, Cambodian officials said authorities working with Australian police had destroyed an enormous stockpile of 33 tons of safrole-rich oil, a key ingredient used in producing the synthetic drug Ecstasy. Cambodian authorities have been working since 2002 to stem the distillation of the oil and since then have succeeded in detecting and dismantling more than 50 clandestine laboratories capable of producing up to 15 gallons of oil a day. Cambodian officials are trying to preserve the sassafras tree, which is classified as a rare species that grows mainly in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains.
(AP, 6/20/08)
2008 Jun 23, Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto said that it had agreed to a near doubling of the price of its iron ore sales to Chinese steel maker Baosteel.
(AFP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 30, In Hay, Australia, John Walsh (69) was arrested hours after hacking his two grandchildren and wife to death with an ax and badly wounding his daughter in Cowra.
(AP, 6/30/08)
2008 Jul 10, Officials said a decade-long drought in Australia's most important crop-growing region is worsening and there is little hope for relief from either saving rains or a new government conservation plan.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 11, In Australia the official program for the Catholic church's World Youth Day began, but was partly overshadowed by the launch of an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against a disgraced priest. Thousands of pilgrims converged on Sydney as it braced for the weekend arrival of Pope Benedict.
(AFP, 7/11/08)(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 12, Pope Benedict XVI left Rome on a flight to Australia for a 10-day pilgrimage. The Pope said he will use his visit to Australia to apologize for sexual abuse by priests and to examine how the Church can "prevent, heal and reconcile".
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 13, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney, after a stop in Darwin, for one of the largest Christian gatherings on Earth, starting a visit set to be marked by his apology for sexual abuse by priests in Australia.
(AFP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 15, In Australia the world's biggest Christian festival opened with a spectacular harbor-side mass for up to 150,000 pilgrims taking part in World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney headed by Pope Benedict XVI.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2008 Jul 17, In Sidney, Australia, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a stinging attack on pop culture, consumerism and "false idols" to 150,000 mainly teenaged Catholic pilgrims gathered for World Youth Day.
(AFP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Australia Pope Benedict XVI warned Christian leaders that the push to unite Christian churches was at a "critical juncture" and called on people of all religions to join together against violence.
(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Singapore Peter Lloyd (41), a TV reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was charged with trafficking about one gram of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for 100 Singapore dollars (73.5 US) at a hotel early this month.
(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Sidney, Australia, Pope Benedict apologized directly for the first time for sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, but victims groups said they wanted action and not words.
(Reuters, 7/19/08)
2008 Jul 20, In Australia Pope Benedict XVI said a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 21, In Sidney Pope Benedict XVI met privately with Australians who were sexually abused as children by priests, ending a pilgrimage to the country with a gesture of contrition and concern over a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church.
(AP, 7/21/08)
2008 Jul 23, Australia announced an extra $29 million in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratize quickly and respect human rights.
(AP, 7/23/08)
2008 Jul 29, Starbucks said it will close more than two-thirds of its 84 stores in Australia by the end of the week under a cost-cutting plan that will put almost 700 people out of work.
(AP, 7/29/08)
2008 Jul 30, Aborigines won traditional ownership rights over a large stretch of coastline in northern Australia, in a landmark ruling lawyers said could set a precedent in other parts of the country.
(AP, 7/30/08)
2008 Aug 1, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said it received correspondence from Guinea President Lansana Conte "purporting to rescind the Simandou Mining Concession." Just before his death on Dec 22 Conte signed rights to mine the northern half of the Simandou Mining Concession to Israeli businessman Benny Steinmetz for $160m, who in turn soon sold a 51% stake to Brazil’s Vale for $2.5 billion.
(AFP, 8/3/08)(Econ, 6/7/14, p.57)(Econ, 12/6/14, p.78)
2008 Aug 8, Australian Customs and police said they had seized 4.4 tons of ecstasy tablets worth nearly 400 million dollars, describing it as the biggest haul of the illicit drug anywhere in the world. Police said the seizure of the drugs, which were concealed in tins of tomato shipped to Australia from Italy, had resulted in the arrests of 21 people across the country beginning in pre-dawn raids.
(AFP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 10, In southern Australia some 5,000 people rallied to protest the dwindling water levels of the Murray River, claiming the loss was causing an environmental disaster.
(AFP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 14, Australian police arrested a Catholic priest (65) and charged him with 30 counts of sexual assault related to abuse allegations dating back three decades.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 23, In Somalia 2 Western reporters were kidnapped near Mogadishu. The next day the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) named them as Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian reporter based in Baghdad but freelancing for French television and Canada's Global National News, and Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist. Both were released after 15 months and arrived in Kenya on Nov 25, 2009. Brennan’s family mortgaged their house to raise his ransom.
(Reuters, 8/24/08)(AP, 11/26/09)(Econ, 3/16/13, p.61)
2008 Sep 1, Australian actor Michael Pate (b.1920) died of respiratory failure. He had appeared in more than 50 films and was a regular guest star on American TV shows in the 1950s and 60s.
(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 2, Australia's central bank cut interest rates for the first time in over six-and-a-half years, pushing them down 25 basis points to 7% amid signs of cooling economic growth.
(AP, 9/2/08)
2008 Sep 2, In Australia Brian Spillane, a 65-year-old ex-priest, was arrested and charged in Sydney with 60 counts relating to alleged sexual assaults against eight people. Spillane was originally charged in May with 33 child sex offenses against five people as a result of a police investigation into allegations of abuse in the 1980s at St. Stanislaus in the city of Bathurst.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 2, In Afghanistan 22 Taliban were killed in a clash in Zabul province's Naw Bahar district. 7 Arab fighters were among the dead. Another 10 militants died in clashes with Afghan and foreign troops in Nad Ali district of Helmand province. NATO troops in Operation Oqab Tsuka (Eagle’s summit) delivered a Chinese-built turbine for the power station at Kajaki. Taliban insurgents opened fire on a patrol of Australian, US and Afghan troops, as it returned to base. More than a dozen coalition troops were wounded; none died. In 2009 Australian trooper Mark Donaldson was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the British Commonwealth, for his efforts to protect the wounded during the attack.
(AP, 9/3/08)(Econ, 9/6/08, p.64)(AP, 1/16/09)
2008 Sep 3, In Australia police arrested a 66-year-old Catholic brother in connection with their probe into St. Stanislaus and a 63-year-old former teacher of another religious school in Bathurst that is also under investigation.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 5, Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia's governor general, the first woman to act as the British queen's representative Down Under. Morris Iemma (47), the embattled premier of Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, was forced to resign after his party withdrew support for him over a dramatic reshuffle of his cabinet.
(AP, 9/5/08)(AFP, 9/5/08)
2008 Sep 7, The conservation group WWF said Australian koalas are dying by the thousands as a result of land clearing in the country's northeast, while millions of birds and reptiles are also perishing. Queensland state last week revealed that 375,000 hectares of bush were cleared in 2005-06, a figure WWF said would have resulted in the deaths of two million mammals.
(AP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 8, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said Australia will not sell uranium to India unless it signs a key non-proliferation pact, despite a decision by nuclear supplier nations to end a ban on trading with New Delhi.
(AFP, 9/8/08)
2008 Sep 14, In Western Australia's 4 people died in a helicopter crash in the Bungle Bungle National Park of the remote Kimberly region.
(AFP, 9/14/08)
2008 Sep 15, An Australian jury found Abdul Benbrika (48), a Muslim cleric, and five of his followers guilty of planning to stage a "violent jihad" in Melbourne in 2005 to force Australian troops out of Iraq. A 7th man was convicted the next day. In 2009 Benbrika was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison.
(Reuters, 9/15/08)(AP, 9/16/08)(AP, 2/3/09)
2008 Sep 18, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd said the west's relations with Russia are at a turning point after its intervention in Georgia and a pact to sell Australian uranium to Moscow is in the balance.
(AP, 9/18/08)
2008 Sep 19, PM Kevin Rudd announced that Australia will launch a multi-million dollar international carbon capture and storage institute to fight global warming.
(AP, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 22, in Australia 400 sheep died in a road accident, prompting animal rights activists to repeat their call for an end to the long distance transportation of livestock for slaughter.
(AFP, 9/23/08)
2008 Sep 27, According to an estimate by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), up to A$12 billion ($10 billion) in illicit drug money could be flowing out of Australia every year.
(Reuters, 9/27/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Australia a major report to the government on global warming suggested that Australians should eat kangaroos instead of cattle and sheep.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Australia a 7-year-old boy broke into the popular Alice Springs zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock. By the time he was done, 13 animals worth around $5,500 had been killed, including a turtle, bearded dragons and thorny devil lizards.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 8, Australian scientists said hundreds of new marine species and previously uncharted undersea mountains and canyons have been discovered in the depths of the Southern Ocean.
(AP, 10/8/08)
2008 Oct 12, Australia and New Zealand gave a blanket guarantee to all bank deposits in a move likely to raise pressure on other economies to do the same, amid a crisis of confidence in the global financial system.
(AP, 10/12/08)
2008 Oct 17, Two Indonesian fishing crew picked up in Australian territorial waters with 14 refugees on their boat were charged with people smuggling.
(Reuters, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 22, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Australia will reduce its troop deployment to East Timor because of the improved security situation.
(AFP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 29, In Australia Joseph Thomas (35), a Muslim convert dubbed "Jihad Jack" by the Australian media, was sentenced to nine months in prison but freed because of time already served. He spent time at an al-Qaida training camp and met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 30, In Australia 4 teenagers were charged with attacking an almost blind greater flamingo at Adelaide Zoo. The bird is believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world.
(AFP, 10/30/08)
2008 Nov 1, In Australia the badly decomposed body of Chen Liu (27) was found in Sydney, about two weeks after a friend reported him missing. 34 nails were found during a post-mortem examination of Liu's body, and were located mainly in his skull. They were fired from an 85 mm nail gun at close range.
(AP, 4/24/09)
2008 Nov 12, A Sidney court sentenced an Australian woman to 22 months periodic detention for assisting in the suicide of her longtime partner, an Alzheimer's sufferer who had been rejected for a legal euthanasia in Switzerland.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 17, Australia said it will invest millions of dollars in non-lethal whale research to show Japan that the animals do not need to be killed in order to be studied.
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 20, The new Australian Sex Party launched at Sexpo, an annual sex exhibition in Melbourne. It has already gathered the required 500 members and plans to register with the electoral commission next week.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 23, In southeastern Australia rescuers returned 11 pilot whales to sea, a day after a pod of 64 mothers and calves were found stranded on a beach.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2008 Nov 25, In Australia BHP Billiton dropped its controversial hostile takeover bid for rival Rio Tinto because of the global economic crisis.
(AFP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 29, Joern Utzon (b.1918), the Danish architect who designed the iconic Sydney Opera House (1957), died. In 2003 Utzon won the Pritzker prize.
(AP, 11/29/08)(Econ, 12/13/08, p.104)
2008 Nov 30, In southern Australia a group of 150 whales that became stranded on a remote coastline were battered to death on rocks before rescuers could save them.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Dec 2, Australia cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 4.25%.
(WSJ, 12/3/08, p.A12)
2008 Dec 5, Australia's driest state was forced to purchase water for the first time to ensure adequate supplies in the midst of a drought. Karlene Maywald, state water security minister, said South Australia has purchased 61 billion gallons (231 gigaliters) of water so that Adelaide, the state capital, will have enough water for 2009 even if the drought continues.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 10, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said it will slash some 14,000 jobs globally to cut its debt by 10 billion US dollars as it battles falling prices and a global slowdown.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 10, In Australia Taha Abdul-Rahman of Sydney was jailed for 3½ years for buying seven rocket launchers stolen from the military between 2001 and 2003, most of which have never been recovered by authorities.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 10, Indonesia launched the Bali Democracy Forum to promote human rights and democracy. The forum was attended by foreign ministers from around 20 countries, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian PM Kevin Rudd as co-chairs.
(Econ, 2/19/11, p.43)(http://tinyurl.com/6hbsxh5)
2008 Dec 11, Australian police said detectives have charged 22 men including a policeman, a senior lawyer and a child care worker in connection with a child pornography-sharing network spanning 70 countries. Brazilian information, which was shared via the international policing network Interpol, identified more than 200 suspects in 70 countries,
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 12, A court in Australia approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking Web site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan.
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 Dec 13, Alex Bellini, an Italian adventurer, was rescued a mere 65 nautical miles short of his goal, Australia, after rough weather sapped him of his final shreds of energy. He had spent 10 months rowing more than 9,500 nautical miles (18,000 kilometers) across the Pacific.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2008 Dec 15, Australia pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least five percent by 2020 to fight climate change, but critics said the plan was a "global embarrassment" and called for deeper reductions.
(AFP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 17, Australian Aborigines won a court fight against Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata's plans to divert a river and expand one of the world's biggest zinc mines.
(AFP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 17, Two Australian women were killed when their light aircraft slammed into a suburban house in Sydney after a mid-air collision between two flying school planes.
(AFP, 12/18/08)
2008 Dec 24, In Egypt an Australian teacher (61), who allegedly stuffed his luggage with 2,000-year old animal mummies and religious figurines wrapped as gifts, was arrested and charged with smuggling antiquities.
(AP, 12/25/08)
2008 Dec, Most Australian taxpayers received checks for $900 to help stimulate the economy.
(Econ, 5/28/11, SR p.5)
2008 In Australia a video was made showing an unarmed, dark-skinned man, who refused to undergo a strip search in a Perth detention facility, screaming in apparent agony after being zapped with a stun gun eight times while surrounded by nine police officers. He was stunned another five times off-camera. The video was made public in 2010 as an example of the wrongful use of a stun gun.
(AP, 10/5/10)
2009 Jan 10, Australian police said a Canadian man has been charged with trying to smuggle more than two million dollars (1.4 million US) worth of cocaine inside forklift battery cells into Australia from Mexico.
(AFP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 11, Australia's Defense Ministry said its special forces in Afghanistan had killed Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Rasheed, who had been involved in recruiting suicide bombers and foreign fighters in Uruzgan province.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 13, Nancy Bird-Walton (93), Australian aviation pioneer, died from natural causes. She was the first woman in Australia to operate a commercial aircraft. Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, taught Watson how to fly in 1933, when she was just 17 years old. Two years later, she obtained a commercial pilot's license and began taking paying passengers for joyrides around the country.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 16, Australia granted asylum to 28 people from Afghanistan and Iran, in the first such move since relaxing tough rules on asylum seekers.
(AFP, 1/17/09)
2009 Jan 18, Australia listed the world's largest sea turtle, the leatherback, as endangered due to the threats posed by overfishing and the unsustainable harvesting of its eggs and meat.
(AFP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 19, In Thailand an Australian writer was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy. Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides (41) to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 15, Australia's tropical Queensland state declared a flood disaster over an area the size of France and Germany after recent monsoon storms. The floods are eventually expected to move inland, helping fill lakes and relieving a long-running drought in parts of Australia's desert interior and tropical north.
(Reuters, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 17, Two dehydrated men from Myanmar were found bobbing in an ice box in the Torres Strait off Australia. They told authorities they had spent 25 days adrift after their fishing boat sank. There was no sign of 18 other crew members.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 19, In Thailand Harry Nicolaides (41), an Australian writer, was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy. Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea. His 2005 book “Verisimilitude" had sold 7 copies. Nicolaides returned home on Feb 21, after he was granted a royal pardon.
(AP, 1/19/09)(SFC, 1/20/09, p.A3)(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Jan 23, In Australia rescuers poured water on the parched skin of sperm whales beached on a remote sand bank on Perkins Island to keep them alive until the next high tide. All 45 whales died with 2 days.
(AP, 1/23/09)(AP, 1/24/09)(AP, 1/25/09)
2009 Jan 29, An Australian man (36) was charged with murder after allegedly throwing his four-year-old daughter from a Melbourne bridge into the Yarra River during peak hour traffic. On April 11, 2011, Arthur Freeman was sentenced to life in prison.
(AFP, 1/29/09)(AP, 4/11/11)
2009 Jan 30, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, struggled to cope with a once-in-a-century heatwave as temperatures hit 109 degrees. The heat wave has claimed dozens of lives and sparked wildfires that have razed up to 20 homes.
(AFP, 1/31/09)(WSJ, 1/31/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 3, In Australia PM Kevin Rudd announced a $27 billion stimulus package. Australia’s Parliament passed the bill on Feb 13.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sz_2IM3K80)
2009 Feb 4, In northeastern Australia rain-battered residents were on alert for snakes in their bathrooms and crocodiles in the road following repeated storms that have sent local wildlife in search of dry land or a safe haven.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 7, In Australia searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the country's Victoria state. On “Black Saturday" some 2298 homes were destroyed with a death toll of 173. The town of Marysville and several hamlets in the Kinglake district, both about 50 miles (100 km) north of Melbourne, were utterly devastated. In 2012 James Sokaluk was jailed for at least 14 years for starting a blaze that killed 10 people and destroyed more than 150 homes at Churchill.
(AFP, 2/8/09)(Econ, 1/14/12, p.61)(AFP, 4/27/12)
2009 Feb 9, In Australia police declared incinerated towns crime scenes, and PM Rudd spoke of "mass murder" after investigators said arsonists may have set some of the country's worst wildfires in history. The official death toll from the wildfires was later downgraded to 173 from a previous count of 210.
(AP, 2/9/09)(AP, 2/10/09)(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Feb 12, Hong Kong's High Court quashed the conviction of Australian Kevin Egan, one of the city's most high-profile lawyers, who had been jailed for leaking the identity of a protected witness to a journalist.
(AFP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 12, The Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) announced that it would invest $19.5 billion in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto. In June it was reported that Chinalco would not complete the deal.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.73)(AFP, 6/4/09)
2009 Feb 12, In southern Afghanistan a gunfight between Australian forces and Taliban fighters killed at least 3 children who were caught in the crossfire in Uruzgan province. In 2010 three former Australian commandos faced serious charges in relation to the late-night raid that killed 6 Afghans, including five children. Another two children and two adults were wounded. In 2011 Australia dropped all charges against the three commandos.
(AP, 2/13/09)(AP, 9/27/10)(AP, 8/30/11)
2009 Feb 13, Australian authorities charged a man with lighting one of the wildfires that killed at least 189 people, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury. Brendan Sokaluk (39), faced two charges related to one of the February 7 fires that killed 11 people in Victoria's Gippsland region, east of Melbourne.
(AP, 2/13/09)(AP, 2/16/09)
2009 Feb 20, Australian Federal Police agents with search warrants boarded an anti-whaling group's ship, the Steve Irwin, as it docked in the southern Australian city of Hobart. They seized videotapes of violent clashes between the activists and Japanese whalers.
(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Feb 22, In Brisbane, Australia, Father Peter Kennedy (71), a rebel Catholic priest who was sacked for blessing gay couples and allowing women to preach, defied his archbishop and led mass.
(AFP, 2/22/09)
2009 Feb 23, In southern Australia more than 100 people evacuated their homes in Victoria state when new bushfires threatened communities, two weeks after the nation's worst fire disaster killed more than 200 people.
(AP, 2/23/09)
2009 Feb 26, The Australian government announced a multi-million dollar investment in research on reducing gas emissions from farm animals as part of the fight against global warming.
(AFP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb, An Australian man in Victoria state was arrested on charges of raping his daughter for 30 years and fathering four children with her. The daughter first told police about the alleged abuse in 2005, but no charges were filed because she said she feared for her safety and would not cooperate with police.
(AP, 9/17/09)
2009 Mar 2, In southern Australia rescuers used jet skis, backhoes and human muscle to save dozens of whales and dolphins stranded on Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania state's King Island. Rescuers refloated 54 whales and five bottlenose dolphins. A total of 194 pilot whales and seven dolphins became stranded the previous evening.
(AP, 3/2/09)(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 5, Australia and South Korea agreed during a summit between PM Kevin Rudd and President Lee Myung-bak to deepen security ties and launch formal talks on a free trade agreement.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 11, Australia said it would provide funding to Zimbabwe's new unity government, the first Western power to announce direct support to the new administration.
(Reuters, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 11, More than 30 shipping containers of ammonium nitrate fell off a ship in stormy seas off Australia, damaging the ship's hull and leaking up to 30 tons of oil [see Mar 13]. Swire Shipping's cargo liner Pacific Adventurer released about 200,000 liters (53,000 US gallons) of heavy fuel oil off the coast of Queensland state as it travelled through cyclonic weather. Australia later sought more than 18 million US dollars in compensation from a Hong Kong-based shipping company. In August the Hong Kong-based Swire Shipping company said it will pay Australia 25 million dollars (21 million US) in compensation for the oil spill.
(AP, 3/11/09)(AFP, 5/6/09)(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Mar 13, Dozens of popular tourist beaches on Australia's northeast coast were declared a disaster zone, with their once-pristine sands fouled by a massive oil and chemical slick. Queensland state's marine safety authority said up to 100 tons of fuel, 250,000 liters, were now believed to have spilled from the Hong Kong-flagged ship Pacific Adventurer amid cyclonic conditions on March 11.
(AP, 3/13/09)(Econ, 3/21/09, p.45)
2009 Mar 13, Terra Firma, a London-based private equity firm, announced it would buy 90% of Consolidated pastoral Company, the Australian cattle holdings of the Packer family, which encompass 12 million acres of land.
(Econ, 3/21/09, p.67)
2009 Mar 16, In southern Afghanistan two suicide bombers attacked police stations, killing 10 Afghan policemen and 2 civilians, underlining the growing threat from a Taliban-led insurgency. An Australian soldier in a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol was shot dead during a "very intense firefight" with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province.
(AFP, 3/16/09)(AP, 3/17/09)
2009 Mar 18, The Australian government said it plans to crack down on excessive executive pay packages. It will amend the Corporations Act to require shareholder approval for any termination payments that exceed average annual base salary, which excludes additional compensation such as shares or stock options.
(WSJ, 3/19/09, p.C2)
2009 Mar 19, In Afghanistan Helmand MP Dad Mohammad Khan, a key anti-Taliban lawmaker, was killed with four other men when a bomb tore through their vehicle. Australia’s defense chief said a bomb disposal expert was killed trying to defuse a device in Afghanistan, announcing the country's 10th combat death there.
(AFP, 3/19/09)(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Mar 22, In Australia warring bikers brawled through the Sidney airport, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles "like swords" as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travelers. Anthony Zervas (29) was bludgeoned to death with a crowd control barrier pole during the fracas. On June 30 Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi (29), head of the Comanchero motorcycle gang, was charged with murder.
(AP, 3/22/09)(AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Mar 23, In Australia volunteers joined rescue workers struggling to save the lives of 17 whales that survived a mass stranding on a beach on Australia's west coast. Around 90 long-finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins were found beached over more than five kilometers (three miles) in Hamelin Bay, south of the city of Perth. Most of the animals died, but rescuers were able to push four dolphins and four whales out to sea at the stranding site and truck 10 surviving whales overland to deeper waters. Six whales believed to be part of a pod that was rescued from a mass stranding re-beached themselves and two died. One of the 4 surviving whales was found dead on March 26.
(AFP, 3/23/09)(AP, 3/25/09)(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 24, Australian police arrested a senior motorcycle gang member as authorities launched a crackdown on biker groups in response to a deadly airport brawl that shocked the country and brought a simmering gang war out into the open.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 25, Australia PM Kevin Rudd visited the US and urged Americans not to view China as an enemy but as a country offering huge economic opportunities, even though its leaders have "done some bad things in the past."
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 28, Sydney became the world's first major city to plunge itself into darkness for the second worldwide Earth Hour, a global campaign to highlight the threat of climate change.
(AP, 3/28/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Australia thousands of poisonous cane toads met their fate as gleeful hunters gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they've plagued for years.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Australia a gunman opened fire on a senior member of the Hells Angels, shooting him multiple times outside a Sydney apartment complex in the latest incident in an escalating battle between biker gangs.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 30, Downtown Sydney, Australia's largest city, was plunged into chaos during the late rush hour when a power cut blacked out traffic lights, caused gridlock on the roads and left tens of thousands of buildings in darkness. The blackout exposed a flaw in the city's terrorism warning system.
(AP, 3/30/09)(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Apr 3, Australia endorsed a UN declaration that recognizes indigenous rights, reversing years of opposition and promising a new era in relations between white Australians and the nation's impoverished Aborigines. Australia was one of four nations that voted against the declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 6, In Australia a motorcycle gang leader surrendered to police and became the sixth biker charged in connection with a brawl that left a rival bleeding to death before shocked travelers at Australia's busiest airport.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 7, Australia announced plans to build a 30 billion US dollar broadband network, its biggest infrastructure project ever, opting to retain government control rather than contract out the deal.
(AFP, 4/7/09)
2009 Apr 8, A fishing vessel carrying 45 boatpeople, believed to be from Iraq, landed on Australia’s remote Christmas Island, island, a day after the opposition party said a softer stance on refugees had prompted a "surge" in illegal immigrants.
(AFP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 16, Five people were killed and dozens wounded when a blast tore apart a boat carrying more than 40 Afghan refugees off Australia's northwest coast. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation later said it was told the refugees had doused the boat in petrol to try to force the navy to land them in Australia and not turn them back to Indonesia, but that the blast was an accident. On Oct 28 two Indonesian fishermen were jailed for five years for smuggling the boat full of Afghan refugees.
(AFP, 4/20/09)(AFP, 10/28/09)
2009 Apr 17, Australia's PM Rudd denounced people smugglers who set hopeful refugees adrift in rickety boats as "scum" and pledged to step up efforts to thwart them, after one vessel exploded at sea and killed three people.
(AP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 17, Australia revealed plans to introduce national arson laws with a maximum penalty of 25 years behind bars in the wake of deadly wildfires that claimed 173 lives.
(AFP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 25, Australia intercepted a boat carrying more than 50 refugees north of Darwin, little more than a week after an explosion on another vessel killed five people. A boat carrying 32 Sri Lankan refugees was stopped near the northwest coast on April 23.
(AFP, 4/25/09)
2009 Apr 29, Australia announced it will increase by almost one half its troops in Afghanistan to about 1,550 as part of the US-led surge of international forces to bolster the faltering fight against Taliban insurgents.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 29, Two boats carrying almost 80 people were intercepted off Australia's northern coast as the conservative political opposition called for an independent inquiry into refugee policy.
(AFP, 4/29/09)
2009 May 2, Australia’s government said it will spend more than 70 billion US dollars boosting its defenses over the next 20 years in response to a regional military build-up and global shifts in power.
(AFP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 4, Australia's government put back its much-vaunted carbon-emissions trading scheme by a year, bowing to industry demands for more relief amid a recession while opening the door to an even deeper long-term reduction.
(Reuters, 5/4/09)
2009 May 4, An Afghan guard was killed by Australian Robert William Langdon as he worked for US-based private security company Four Horsemen International. A court later heard that Langdon threw a hand grenade into the truck carrying the guard's body and ordered other guards to fire into the air to simulate a Taliban attack. Langdon allegedly admitted killing the Afghan guard during a heated argument about security for a convoy. In October Langdon was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a court in Kabul. He paid a "sizeable" compensation to the victim's family and the sentenced was reduced to 20 years.
(AP, 1/27/10)(http://tinyurl.com/ybfe5lu)(AFP, 1/6/11)
2009 May 5, Australia's army started shooting 6,000 kangaroos to thin their population on an army training ground near the capital, outraging conservationists who have vowed to protest.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 6, Ben Southall (34), a bungee jumping, ostrich-riding British charity worker was named the winner of what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World," a 150,000 Australian dollar ($111,000) contract to serve as the caretaker of Australia’s tropical Hamilton Island. He beat out nearly 35,000 applicants from around the world for assignment to swim, explore and relax in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog to promote the area.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 9, Australia and Japan joined the ranks of affected countries with confirmed H1N1 swine flu. New Zealand, the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to confirm cases, reported two more for a total of seven.
(AP, 5/9/09)
2009 May 11, Australia’s armed forces chief announced that Australia will formally end its military mission in Iraq at the end of July, bringing the country's involvement in one war to a close even as it prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 12, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia will post a record 57.6 billion Australian dollar (44.1 billion US) deficit in 2009-10 as it battles the worst global recession since the Great Depression.
(AP, 5/12/09)
2009 May 14, In Australia a court suspended a government program to kill 7,000 kangaroos on federal land near the Australian capital, halting efforts to thin a mushrooming population of the beloved marsupials that authorities say are threatening endangered species.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 20, Australian authorities declared a state of emergency in Queensland as torrential rain and gale force winds caused extensive flooding and left one man dead.
(AFP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 23, In Australia thousands more people in the flood-hit east were told to leave their homes as gale-force winds lashed the coast. Emergency services said up to 20,000 people had been cut off.
(AP, 5/23/09)
2009 May 24, In Australia thousands of homeowners remained isolated in the flood-hit northeast. Authorities said days of torrential rain had created a vast "inland sea."
(AFP, 5/24/09)
2009 May 28, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith condemned a wave of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne after the latest assault left a 25-year-old fighting for his life. Indian student Sravan Kumar Theerthala was stabbed with a screwdriver on May 24 when a group of teenagers gatecrashed a party he was attending in the suburbs of Melbourne.
(AFP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jun 4, Australia's Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon (47) stepped down after a series of scandals, in the first major embarrassment for PM Kevin Rudd. Fitzgibbon had been under pressure since March when he admitted not declaring to parliamentary authorities two trips to China paid for by wealthy businesswoman Helen Liu.
(AP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 5, The Anglo-Australian firm Rio Tinto cancelled its controversial tie-up with China's Chinalco in favor of a joint venture with fierce rival BHP Billiton and a 15.2 billion US dollar rights issue.
(AFP, 6/5/09)
2009 Jun 9, In Australia a protest involving hundreds of Indian students turned into a "vigilante" attack in Sydney overnight, in the latest flare-up in racial tensions in recent weeks. Police said a group wielding sticks and baseball bats attacked men of "Middle Eastern appearance" in apparent retaliation for an earlier assault on an Indian man.
(AFP, 6/9/09)
2009 Jun 11, In Australia an Australian Aboriginal elder (46), arrested for drunk driving, died after being "cooked" in the back of a scorching hot prison van. The next day a coroner found that Mr. Ward's death breached Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(AFP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 13, In Australia it was reported Barry Tannenbaum (43), an expatriate South African businessman, has denied any wrongdoing in an alleged investment scandal. Tannenbaum has been accused of fleecing rich South Africans in what has been billed as one of the country's biggest Ponzi-style investment scandals, according to local and South African media. The massive pyramid scheme reportedly cost wealthy investors up to $1.2 billion.
(AFP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 15, In Australia Des "Tuppence" Moran (61), a former underworld enforcer, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head while enjoying a coffee in a suburban cafe. Gangland widow Judy Moran was one of three people later charged in the slaying. On March 9, 2011, Judy Moran (66) was convicted of orchestrating the execution-style murder of her brother-in-law.
(AFP, 6/17/09)(AFP, 3/9/11)
2009 Jun 22, Australian police said that an e-mail challenging PM Kevin Rudd's honesty in his 19-month-old government's biggest political crisis appeared to be a forgery.
(AP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jun 28, The Australian navy intercepted a refugee boat with 194 people aboard off the country's northwest coast. It was the 15th suspected people-smuggling craft to have been stopped in Australian waters or to have made landfall since January.
(AFP, 6/28/09)
2009 Jun 29, It was reported that Australian scientists have developed a "trojan horse" therapy to combat cancer, using a bacterially-derived nano cell to penetrate and disarm the cancer cell before a second nano cell kills it with chemotherapy drugs. Sydney scientists Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt, who formed EnGenelC Pty Ltd in 2001, said they had achieved 100 percent survival in mice with human cancer cells by using the "trojan horse" therapy in the past two years.
(Reuters, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 30, Australian serial rapist John Xydias (45) was jailed for 28 years. For over 15 years he had dressed his unconscious victims in his collection of women's underwear and filmed assaults on them.
(AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jun 30, In Australia 2 men were charged with the murder of a female student from China who went missing June 25 after a night out in Tasmania. Stavros Papadopoulos and Daniel Joseph Williams, both 21 and from Hobart, were remanded in custody after a brief appearance before a magistrate. Accountancy student Zhang Yu (26) was last seen alive outside a Hobart city center pub. Police later found her body in the Tyenna river west of Hobart. In 2010 Papadopoulos was sentenced to life in prison. Accomplice Daniel Jo Williams was sentenced to 10 years in jail on a charge of manslaughter.
(AP, 6/30/09)(AFP, 6/30/10)
2009 Jul 3, Australia announced a 155 million US dollar package for isolated Aboriginal communities, after a new report revealed shocking levels of child abuse among the downtrodden minority.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australia said Chinese authorities had detained Stern Hu, Rio Tinto Ltd's top iron ore negotiator, as well as three other Rio employees on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets, threatening to strain already fraying ties.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australian residents of rural Bundanoon, hoping to protect the earth and their wallets, voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country, and possibly the world, to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Indonesia an Australian working for the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based mining giant Freeport McMoRan was shot dead by unknown attackers in Papua.
(AFP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 16, Australia and China traded warnings over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying, as the United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair treatment for staff of foreign companies.
(Reuters, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Australian Min Lin, his wife, two sons aged 12 and 9, and a female relative were killed by blunt force trauma to the upper bodies and heads in their home in a Sydney suburb. The family had run a convenience store for more than six years after immigrating from China.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, An amateur astronomer in Australia detected a new scar on Jupiter that covered some 73 million square miles, a larger area than the Pacific ocean.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 20, In Australia Adelaide-based Vaxine began swine flu vaccine trials with 300 subjects. Melbourne's CSL had 240 people in its seven-month trial, which started Jul 22. The companies said their trials are the first tests of a swine flu vaccine on humans.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Australia Shane Kent (33), an Australian convert to Islam, admitted being part of a terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing major sports events. The former forklift truck driver was about to face a retrial on the charges, which he previously denied, after a Supreme Court jury last September failed to reach a verdict.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Aug 1, Australia's centre-left ruling party voted for national recognition of same-sex unions but stopped short of lifting a ban on gay marriage.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 4, Australian police said they thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to an al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a military base and open fire with automatic weapons until they were shot dead themselves. Some 400 officers from state and national security services took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne, before dawn, arresting four men and detaining several others for questioning. Police said all four arrested are Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese descent aged between 22 and 26.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 5, Australian police charged four men with planning to attack an army base and shoot soldiers as the government considered whether to ban a Somalia militant group linked to the plot.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 10, Australia said it has pledged 7.8 million US dollars this year to help save more than 100 indigenous languages which are in grave danger of dying out.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 11, China formally arrested four employees of Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of laying politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has strained ties with key trading partner Australia.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Australian forces shot 2 Afghan policemen on a motorcycle at the Dorafshan checkpoint near Tarin Kowt. One of the Afghans was shot 16 times and died. The other was wounded. The Australian military later said the soldiers did not know the men were police and were acting in self-defense.
(AFP, 10/13/09)(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653950.htm)
2009 Aug 13, Australian police said a 20-year-old Australian man has been charged with infecting more than 3,000 computers around the world with a virus designed to capture banking and credit card data.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 14, An Australian judge ruled that Christian Rossiter (49), a quadriplegic man who says he cannot "undertake any basic human functions," has the right to direct a nursing home to stop feeding him and allow him to die.
(AP, 8/14/09)(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 19, Australia celebrated the biggest trade deal in its history and said it proved vital ties with China had survived a series of bruising rows. PM Kevin Rudd said ExxonMobil's 41.3 billion US dollar liquefied natural gas contract with PetroChina would create up to 6,000 jobs and pump billions of dollars into the economy. PetroChina ordered 2.25 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year over two decades from ExxonMobil's share of the still-undeveloped Gorgon plant off Western Australia.
(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 20, Australia passed a clean energy law requiring the country to produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 in move that could draw billions of dollars of green investment.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 21, Australian leader Kevin Rudd and his trans-Tasman counterpart John Key chaired the first-ever joint meeting of their cabinets, and said it had been a valuable opportunity to discuss their joint challenges. They vowed closer military ties and collaboration on climate change in the historic meeting.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, A massive oil and gas leak forced the evacuation of an oil rig off Australia's northwest coast. PTTEP Australasia, a branch of Thai-owned PTT Exploration and Production Co. Ltd., said about 40 barrels of oil had been discharged in the initial incident, and it was still attempting to bring the leak under control at the rig, owned by Norway's Seadrill. After 2 days PTTEP said plugging the leak will take weeks. Government officials said there was little threat of environmental damage. By the end of October an estimated 400 barrels a day of oil continued leaking from the fissure off the Australian coast. PTTEP Australasia has failed repeatedly to stop the leak but said it is still trying.
(AFP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Aug 22, The West Australian town of Broome, with deep historical ties to Japan, voted to sever its sister city relationship with the Japanese village of Taiji to protest an annual dolphin slaughter near there. At an extraordinary meeting on October 13 Broome rescinded the decision, which it said was made in haste and without wide consultation, and issued an apology to the Japanese community in Broome and Taiji, their families and friends for any disrespect caused by council's resolution. But it noted that it did not condone the harvest of dolphins in Taiji, with which it forged sister-city relations in 1981.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AFP, 10/16/09)
2009 Aug 26, Australia's highest court ruled that the country's military justice system is unconstitutional because its judges are not independent of the military command, throwing into doubt 171 cases judged in the past two years.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 27, A senior UN official condemned Australia's controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal communities, describing the measures as discriminatory and finding entrenched racism in Australia.
(Reuters, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 29, Australian authorities intercepted a boat carrying 52 suspected asylum seekers, the 18th such vessel to be discovered this year.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Australia millionaire Michael McGurk (45), a Scottish-born property developer, was gunned down in front of his son (10) outside their exclusive Sydney home. In 2007 McGurk had unsuccessfully tried to sue the Sultan of Brunei over an alleged eight million US dollar agreement to buy a 400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran.
(AFP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 9, Australia announced that it has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian forces in East Timor.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 10, Australia announced liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals worth up to 60 billion US dollars with Japan and South Korea, raising its status as a major energy supplier.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 11, A risk consultancy said Australians have overtaken Americans as the world's biggest individual producers of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for global warming. British firm Maplecroft placed Australia's per capita output at 20.58 tons a year, some four percent higher than the United States and top of a list of 185 countries.
(AFP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 12, Australia intercepted a boat carrying 83 suspected asylum seekers off its northwest coast after it was spotted from the air by a military patrol plane. Later in the day the Australian navy intercepted a suspected people-smuggling boat carrying 65 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.
(AFP, 9/12/09)(AFP, 9/13/09)
2009 Sep 14, In Australia energy giants Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil agreed to develop the massive Gorgon field, giving the final go-ahead to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 15, Australia announced shock plans to break up dominant telecommunications player Telstra to boost competition as it presses ahead with a 37 billion US dollar national broadband network.
(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 18, Australia approved a vaccine against swine flu and said it would start administering the medicine this month to its most at-risk citizens, including medical staff, pregnant women and the chronically ill. Regulators approved CSL Ltd.'s vaccine for people above age 10, but the Therapeutic Drug Administration was awaiting the results of more clinical trials before approving it for younger children.
(AP, 9/18/09)
2009 Sep 19, Australian authorities delivered a formal apology to the many thousands of people who were abused in state-run orphanages and children's homes in decades past.
(AFP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 20, Australian border protection officials rescued 54 asylum seekers from a boat stranded in northern waters.
(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 21, Christian Rossiter (49) an Australian quadriplegic died, ending an existence he had described as a "living hell." On Aug 14 he had won a landmark legal battle to starve himself to death by refusing food.
(AP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 23, Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed the heavily populated east coast in a cloud of red Outback grit, nearly closed the country's largest airport and left millions of people coughing and sputtering in the streets.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 23, An Australian naval ship stopped a boat carrying 98 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 24, Australia said it has created a massive nature reserve in the country's far north that will be managed by Aborigines. The so-called Indigenous Protected Areas in the Northern Territory contain rock art sites that are 50,000 years old and wilderness areas rivaling the nearby World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.
(AFP, 9/24/09)
2009 Sep 25, An Australian court sentenced Belal Khazaal (39), a former Qantas Airways baggage handler, to 12 years in prison for publishing a do-it-yourself jihad book on the Internet. The book was titled "Provisions of the Rules of Jihad: Short Judicial Rulings and Organizational Instructions for Fighters and Mujahideen Against Infidels." Khazaal had also been convicted in absentia by Lebanese military courts in 2003 and 2005 on terrorism-related charges.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 26, The Australian town of Bundanoon pulled all bottled water from its shelves and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is believed to be a world-first ban.
(AFP, 9/26/09)
2009 Oct 2, An Australian woman was sentenced to life in prison for the starvation death of her 7-year-old daughter. The woman was convicted of murder in June. Her husband, convicted at the same time of manslaughter in his daughter's death, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. The girl, known as Ebony, weighed barely 20 pounds (9kg) when she died in November, 2007.
(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 2, A boat carrying about 100 asylum seekers left an Indonesian port bound for Australia but never arrived. The information was made public in May, 2010, by Australian Customs and Border Protection Service chief executive Michael Carmody during a routine Senate inquiry into government operations.
(AP, 5/25/10)
2009 Oct 6, Australia's central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates by a quarter point, becoming the first major economy to increase the cost of borrowing amid signs its recovery from the global slump is gaining momentum.
(AP, 10/6/09)
2009 Oct 9, Japanese officials said they have obtained rights to develop platinum mines in South Africa and Botswana in a bid to ensure a stable supply of the metal. The government-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC) said it has signed a contract with Discovery Metals in Australia to jointly develop nickel and platinum mines in northeast Botswana. It has also inked another deal with Canadian firm Platinum Group Metals to explore for platinum in South Africa.
(AFP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 16, In Australia 5 Muslim men were convicted of plotting the country’s largest terrorist conspiracy as part of a bid to force the government to change its policy on Middle East conflicts. The men, aged 25-44, were arrested in a series of raids on their homes in 2005. On Feb 15, 2010, the 5 men were sentenced to 23 to 28 years in prison for stockpiling explosive chemicals and firearms for terrorist attacks on unspecified targets.
(AP, 10/16/09)(AP, 2/15/10)
2009 Oct 18, In Australia Jessica Watson (16) steered her bright pink, 10-meter yacht out of Sydney Harbor to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Her decision sparked a debate in Australia about whether someone so young should be allowed to try such a potentially dangerous feat. She completed her voyage on May 15, 2010.
(AP, 10/18/09)(AP, 5/15/10)
2009 Oct 19, Energy group Chevron announced a new natural gas discovery off Western Australia that will help support the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
(AFP, 10/19/09)
2009 Oct 20, Australian officials said a leech found at a crime scene in 2001 led police to a man who admitted robbing an elderly woman. The leech dropped off Peter Cannon as he and an accomplice tied a 71-year-old woman to a chair in her remote home in the Tasmanian woods on Sept. 28, 2001.
(AP, 10/20/09)
2009 Oct 22, In Australia Don Lane (75), an American song-and-dance man known as "The Lanky Yank," died. He was handed a full-time gig on Australian TV in 1975 and "The Don Lane Show" became a ratings winner, a mixture of cabaret acts, interviews, comedy skits and a song from the tall host to close each show.
(AP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 23, Australia approved Yanzhou Coal's 3.2 billion US dollar takeover of miner Felix Resources, its biggest by a Chinese firm, in a breakthrough for the Asian giant's scramble for commodities.
(AP, 10/23/09)
2009 Oct 30, Indonesian officials and fishermen said thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil have been found drifting near the coastline more than two months after an Australian underwater well began leaking in the Timor Sea on Aug 21.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Nov 1, PTTEP Australasia attempted to plug a leaking well of the West Atlas drilling rig when a fire then broke out on the rig. The operation to stem the leak has involved the Thai-based operator towing the West Triton rig from Singapore, which took five weeks, to drill down some 2.6km under the seabed to the source of the emissions. The leak has dumped thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea since it began on August 21. The blaze was brought under control on Nov 3 when experts managed to plug the leak that has spewed tons of crude over the past 10 weeks.
(AP, 11/1/09)(AFP, 11/2/09)(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 1, A boat carrying 39 apparent asylum seekers sank in the Indian Ocean far from shore. A Taiwanese fishing trawler and the merchant ship LNG Pioneer arrived in the area and deployed life rafts and began plucking people from the water. The stricken ship was in Australia's maritime search and rescue zone when it sent out distress calls. Up to 11 were still missing, and one person was confirmed dead.
(AFP, 11/2/09)
2009 Nov 4, In Australia a stabbing rampage at a secure psychiatric hospital left two people dead. The next day Peko Lakovski (49) was charged with two counts of murder after reportedly attacking his room-mate Raymond Splatt with a kitchen knife, before turning on another patient who was in bed at the time.
(AFP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 7, Australian authorities declared a natural disaster along parts of the country's east coast as heavy floods cut the main road linking major cities, stranding thousands of people.
(AFP, 11/7/09)
2009 Nov 10, An Australian student sparked fears of a new era of computer viruses after creating a worm which infects Apple's iconic iPhone with pictures of 1980s pop star Rick Astley.
(AFP, 11/10/09)
2009 Nov 11, The Australian Capital Territory, home to the nation's parliament, became the first Australian region to legalize civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples, in a move supporters hoped would spark national momentum.
(AFP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 15, British officials said PM Gordon Brown will apologize to thousands of British children who were shipped to new lives overseas, where many say they suffered neglect and abuse. Thousands of poor British children were sent to Australia, Canada and other former colonies under the Child Migrants Program, which ended in the 1960s. Many ended up in institutions or as farm laborers. The British government has estimated that a total of 150,000 British children may have been shipped abroad between 1618 — when a group was sent to the Virginia Colony — and 1967, most of them from the late 19th century onwards.
(AP, 11/15/09)
2009 Nov 16, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd issued an historic apology to thousands of impoverished British children shipped to Australia with the promise of a better life. But his government ruled out paying compensation for the abuse and neglect that many suffered.
(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Nov 17, Australian doctors successfully separated joined-at-the-head Bangladeshi twins after more than 24 hours of surgery, saying the girls were "in great shape" but faced a difficult recovery.
(AFP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 18, Australian PM Kevin Rudd voiced "concerns" about the Church of Scientology after a senator detailed explosive allegations including torture, imprisonment and coerced abortions.
(AFP, 11/18/09)
2009 Nov 20, In Australia 2 executives at Securency, a banknote-making firm part-owned by Australia's central bank, were suspended over a police probe into alleged bribery and kickbacks. According to a May 23 report by The Age newspaper, Securency officials had paid more than 12 million dollars in kickbacks for a printing contract to a Vietnamese businessman with links to the communist state's government. Officials were also accused of paying bribes worth millions of dollars into tax haven bank accounts of a politically-connected Nigerian businessman to win a 2007 contract.
(AFP, 11/22/09)
2009 Nov 20, Australian firefighters battled dozens of bush blazes as record-breaking hot weather sparked "catastrophic" warnings in two states, just months after the country's worst ever wildfire disaster.
(AFP, 11/20/09)
2009 Nov 21, Australia issued "catastrophic" alerts after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country.
(AFP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 25, Australian Northern Territory officials said some 6,000 feral camels are running wild in the remote outback community of Docker River in search of water, smashing infrastructure and invading the airstrip.
(AFP, 11/25/09)
2009 Dec 2, Australia's plans for an emissions trading system to combat global warming were scuttled in Parliament, handing a defeat to a government that had hoped to set an example at international climate change talks next week.
(AP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 5, Australia welcomed a 90 billion dollar (82 billion US) deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Japanese power company in what is believed to be the country's biggest export sales contract.
(AFP, 12/6/09)
2009 Dec 7, ITV, the British TV channel behind hit show "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!", apologized for the death of a rat during filming in Australia, as the stars who killed it faced police charges.
(AFP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 9, Australia’s government said 5 North Korean artists have been banned from entering Australia for an exhibition of their work, drawing accusations of censorship from the arts community. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the artists and a translator have been refused visas because it is contrary to foreign policy interests and because they are from a studio linked to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
(AFP, 12/9/09)
2009 Dec 10, In southeastern Australia more than 120 wildfires fanned by high winds and soaring temperatures raged, prompting emergency warnings for several towns.
(AP, 12/10/09)
2009 Dec 11, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd threatened legal action against Japan if it does not stop its research whaling program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australia said it would push ahead with a mandatory China-style plan to filter the Internet, despite widespread criticism that it will strangle free speech and is doomed to fail. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said new laws would be introduced to ban access to "refused classification" (RC) sites featuring criminal content such as child sex abuse, bestiality, rape and detailed drug use.
(AFP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australian scientists reported the discovery of an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter, unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 23, Australian officials said residents were "fleeing for their lives" as savage wildfires blazed out of control in South Australia, with several homes destroyed and more under threat.
(AFP, 12/23/09)
2009 Dec 28, New Zealand’s supermaxi Alfa Romeo yacht was first across the finish line in the Sydney to Hobart ocean race, ending a four-year winning streak by Australian favorite Wild Oats XI.
(AFP, 12/28/09)
2009 Dec 31, In Australia residents returned to survey the wreckage after Western Australia's worst wildfire in 50 years engulfed 38 homes in an isolated rural community.
(AFP, 12/31/09)
2009 Tony Abbott (b.1957), Australian politician and leader of the labor Party, authored his memoir “Battlelines."
(Econ, 9/14/13, p.54)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Abbott)
2009 Australian Jeff Lawton created his “Re-greening the Desert" video. In 1996 Lawton was accredited with the Permaculture Community Services Award by the permaculture movement for services in Australia and around the world.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPvsl9ni-4)(http://tinyurl.com/pqg85mz)
2009 Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), an intelligence agency, tried to tap the phones of Indonesia’s Pres. Susilo Bambang, as well as his wife and several of his innermost circle. This only became public in 2013.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.43)
2010 Jan 1, It was reported that Australian researchers have cracked the genetic origin of the deadly cancer that is threatening to wipe out Tasmanian devils, raising hopes that the animal's future is safe.
(AFP, 1/1/10)
2010 Jan 2, In Australia Indian accounting graduate Nitin Garg (21) was stabbed by unknown attackers before collapsing in the Melbourne burger restaurant where he worked. On June 17 a 15-year-old Australian boy was charged with the stabbing murder. On June 18 the boy (16) was charged with accessory to the killing. On April 20, 2011, the boy (16) pleaded guilty to the murder and one count of attempted armed robbery. On Dec 22 the boy was sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.
(AFP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)(AFP, 6/18/10)(AP, 4/20/11)(Reuters, 12/22/11)
2010 Jan 3, In southeastern Australia more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Coonamble, in central New South Wales, as the worst floodwaters to hit the area in a decade threatened to swamp a remote farming town.
(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 8, Australia angrily condemned an Indian newspaper cartoon likening its police to the Ku Klux Klan over their investigations into the recent murder of a young Indian man. 4 men reportedly poured an unidentified fluid on Jaspreet Singh (29), a man of Indian descent, and set him alight in a suburb of Melbourne, leaving him with 15% burns. Singh was later charged with making a false report to police and criminal damage with a view to gaining financial advantage over the incident, allegedly to make an insurance claim.
(AFP, 1/8/10)(AFP, 1/9/10)(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Jan 11, Riversdale, an Australian mining firm, said the Mozambican government has given it the green light to build a 800-million-dollar coal mine in the country's northwest. Riversdale has predicted that the Benga project will produce some of the lowest-cost coking coal in the world.
(AFP, 1/11/10)
2010 Feb 2, Australian researchers said they had discovered a gene associated with long-sightedness, a development they said could lead to drug treatments that will replace glasses.
(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Feb 4, Australia said it used an anti-weapons of mass destruction law to block three shipments to Iran but calls for new sanctions against the Islamic state opened up a new international divide.
(AFP, 2/4/10)
2010 Feb 6, Australian miner Resourcehouse said it has signed a 60-billion-US-dollar coal deal with energy-hungry China, calling it the country's "biggest-ever export contract." The company said it had negotiated a 20-year agreement to supply China Power International Holding Limited with 30 million tons of coal a year from a proposed mine in central Queensland. The initial report mistakenly identified the Chinese company as China Power International Development (CPI).
(AFP, 2/6/10)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 8, Australia tightened its migration rules in favor of English speakers and professionals, saying the country has been attracting too many hairdressers and cooks and too few doctors and engineers.
(AP, 2/8/10)
2010 Feb 8, In Australia ITV Studios, producer of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," was fined 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,615) after pleading guilty of animal cruelty after two reality show contestants skinned, cooked and ate a rat during filming in Australia.
(AP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 11, In Australia a shadowy group of cyber-activists succeeded in jamming key Australian government websites for a second consecutive day and warned they could shut down the sites for months in protest over controversial plans to filter the Internet. Codenamed "Operation: Titstorm", the hacking campaign involved hundreds of people from around the world and used a technique called Distributed Denial of Service to jam web traffic.
(AFP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 19, Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Mother Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), making the woman known for her work among the needy Australia's first saint. Sainthood was also approved for Stanislaw Soltys, a 15th-century Polish priest; Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Varano; Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola and a Canadian brother, Andre Bessette (d.1937). The formal canonization will take place Oct. 17 in Rome.
(AP, 2/19/10)
2010 Feb 23, PM Kevin Rudd said Australia plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from about 10 high-risk countries in a bid to combat extremism, which is now a "permanent" threat. He added that Australia will spend 69 million dollars (62 million US) on new biometric facilities and will set up a national control centre to coordinate efforts to fight extremism.
(AFP, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 24, Australia resumed free-trade talks with China after a 14-month gap, sweeping aside a brief plunge in ties to focus on a booming partnership tipped to deliver decades of growth.
(AFP, 2/24/10)
2010 Feb 26, Australia warned Japan that "diplomacy comes to an end this year" on whaling, after presenting a bold plan to phase out the controversial hunts in the Southern Ocean.
(AFP, 2/26/10)
2010 Feb 27, In Australia thousands of people in lavish costumes and various states of undress danced and partied their way through Sydney's streets, in the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
(AP, 2/27/10)
2010 Mar 1, In Australia about 5,200 naked people embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick.
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 2, In Australia Seth Enslow, an American motorcycle stuntman twice, broke the world record for the longest distance jumped on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, sailing through the air near Australia's Sydney Harbor to shatter the previous 10-year-old record. Bubba Blackwell set the previous record with a 157 foot (47.85 meters) jump in Las Vegas in 1999.
(AP, 3/2/10)
2010 Mar 4, In Australia Gurshan Singh (3), who was visiting from Punjab in northern India, disappeared from a suburban house in Melbourne. His body was found about six hours later some 30 km (20 miles) away, not far from the city's airport. On march 7 police alleged that Gursewak Dhillon (23), a part-time taxi driver who had been sharing a house with the boy and his family, was responsible for the boy’s death.
(AFP, 3/5/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)
2010 Mar 5, An Australian court ruled that the once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and was unfit for consumption, awarding a man leading a class action suit against the drug's maker 287,000 Australian dollars ($259,000) in compensation.
(AP, 3/5/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Australia Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy, hoping for a bigger slice of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 9, Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Canberra with PM Kevin Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce waiting on the red carpet. He was soon appointed an honorary companion of the Order of Australia for his work after the 2002 Bali bombing. Yudhoyono will become the first Indonesian leader to address a joint sitting of Australia's parliament on March 10.
(AFP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 19, Australia's Hollywood A-listers, prime minister and top tycoons launched a new campaign for Aboriginal jobs with a spectacular light show at Sydney's iconic Opera House.
(AFP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 21, Tropical Cyclone Ului blew across the coast of northeastern Australia leaving some 60,000 homes without power.
(AFP, 3/20/10)
2010 Mar 22, In China four executives of Australia mining giant Rio Tinto pleaded guilty in Shanghai to taking bribes.
(SFC, 3/23/10, p.D3)
2010 Mar 23, Internet giant Google led high-profile criticism of Australia's controversial plan to filter the Internet, saying it went too far and could set a dangerous precedent.
(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 24, Australia and China signed a multibillion dollar natural gas deal, pushing ahead with business as the trial of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto ended in Shanghai with a verdict still to be announced.
(AP, 3/24/10)
2010 Mar 25, A top Australian official said about 100 Australian police are being investigated for circulating racist and pornographic e-mails via the internal police e-mail system, and one officer involved in the scandal has committed suicide.
(AP, 3/25/10)
2010 Mar 27, In Australia Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge went dark along with millions of homes at the start of Earth Hour, a global switch-off aimed at revitalizing efforts against climate change.
(AFP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 30, Australian media groups and sports bodies signed a code of conduct aimed at ending years of disputes and boycotts over press coverage of major sporting events.
(AP, 3/30/10)
2010 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd announced the country’s first population minister, citing concerns about sustainability as the number of people is tipped to balloon within decades.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, The 230-meter (754-ft) Shen Neng I, a bulk coal carrier, was on its way to China when it ran aground on a shoal off offshore from the Australian city of Rockhampton. Australian government officials said the stranded ship was leaking oil into the sea and is in danger of breaking up and damaging the Great Barrier Reef. The ship was refloated on April 12.
(Reuters, 4/4/10)(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 6, Australia announced its fifth rate hike since October and said borrowing costs would continue to rise as growth and inflation return to normal after the global crisis.
(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 9, Australia suspended refugee applications from Afghans for 6 months and 3 months for Sri Lankans, citing improved conditions in those countries. Human rights advocates expressed concern about the move and an immigrant group condemned it.
(AP, 4/9/10)(Econ, 4/17/10, p.47)
2010 Apr 14, Australian police arrested a Chinese ship captain and senior officer and charged them with damaging the Great Barrier Reef, more than a week after their coal carrier ran aground and tore a two-mile (three km) gash in the protected area.
(AP, 4/14/10)
2010 Apr 14, An Australia officials said swarms of locusts have infested a huge area of eastern Australia, roughly the size of Spain, ravaging farmland following recent floods.
(AFP, 4/14/10)
2010 Apr 19, In Australia Carl Williams, known as the baby-faced killer, was killed in Victoria state's highest security prison by a fellow inmate who attacked him with part of an exercise bike.
(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2876669.htm)(AFP, 4/30/10)
2010 Apr 20, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd said he had reached agreement with all but one of Australia's states on major health reforms which he hopes will spearhead his 2010 re-election campaign.
(Reuters, 4/20/10)
2010 Apr 29, Australia said it will force tobacco companies to strip all logos and color from their packaging, in a move aimed at driving people away from smoking.
(SFC, 4/30/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 29, A giant NASA science balloon crashed during take-off in Australia, destroying its multi-million-dollar payload, toppling a large car and narrowly missing frightened observers.
(AFP, 4/29/10)
2010 May 2, Australia said it would impose taxes worth billions of dollars on mining companies to tap the profits of an Asia-driven commodities surge, prompting warnings it could "kill" the boom.
(AFP, 5/2/10)
2010 May 9, Australia's government said 5 people are feared dead and 59 people were rescued from a disabled boat carrying suspected asylum-seekers in the Indian Ocean.
(Reuters, 5/9/10)
2010 May 14, In Australia the body of Nona Belomesoff (18) was found in an isolated bushland area. Christopher James Dannevig (20) was charged with her murder. He had allegedly set up a fake identity on Facebook and enticed Belomesoff to a nature reserve in Sydney's southwest on May 12.
(AFP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 15, In Australia Jessica Watson (16) became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted when she cruised into Sydney Harbor in her pink, 34-foot (10m) yacht to a rock star welcome of thousands. Her feat will not be considered an official world record, because the World Speed Sailing Record Council discontinued its "youngest" category.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 20, Australian police raided 12 properties associated with Agape Ministries, led by Rocco Leo, and netted 15 guns, slow-burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
(www.apologeticsindex.org/1666-agape-ministries)(AFP, 6/27/11)
2010 May 24, Australia demanded that Israel withdraw an embassy official from the country, saying the Jewish state was behind fake Australian passports linked to the killing of a Hamas operative.
(AP, 5/24/10)
2010 May 28, Australia said it will challenge Japan's whale hunting in the Antarctic at the International Court of Justice, a major legal escalation in its campaign to ban the practice despite Tokyo's insistence on the right to so-called scientific whaling.
(AP, 5/28/10)
2010 May 31, Australia filed an international lawsuit against Japan arguing that its whale cull does not qualify for a scientific exemption to a 1986 ban. Japan said the next day that it would staunchly defend its research hunt that kills hundreds of whales per year.
(AP, 6/1/10)
2010 Jun 6, Australia’s attorney general said police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws. The investigation followed complaints from members of the public about activities of Google employees while taking photographs for Google Maps, the search engine's maps page. Google said it would cooperate with the investigation.
(Reuters, 6/6/10)
2010 Jun 13, Japan’s Hayabusa space probe, which scientists hope contains material from the surface of an asteroid returned to Earth, landed in the remote Australian outback following a 7-year journey.
(AFP, 6/13/10)(SFC, 6/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jun 15, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced it was investing 469 million US dollars to develop a nickel and copper mine in northern Michigan. Construction of the Kennecott Eagle mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will begin this year.
(AFP, 6/16/10)
2010 Jun 19, A plane carrying a group of Australian mining executives disappeared en route from Cameroon to Congo-Brazzaville. All 11 on board were killed wiping out the entire board of the Sundance Resources company including mining tycoon Ken Talbot. The wreckage was found June 21 in the Congo jungle.
(AFP, 6/20/10)(AFP, 6/22/10)
2010 Jun 22, Australia reinstated race discrimination laws in the remote Northern Territory region after suspending them for three years to pursue a controversial crime crackdown in poor Aboriginal townships. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said: "Reinstating the RDA (Racial Discrimination Act) restores dignity and helps Indigenous Australians to take ownership of their lives and to drive change in the Northern Territory."
(AP, 6/22/10)
2010 Jun 23, Australian PM Kevin Rudd announced a shock ballot to fight a challenge from his deputy Julia Gillard, raising the prospect of the country's first female head of government. Rudd emerged from marathon late-night talks with Gillard and other ministers to tell a hastily convened press conference the vote would be held early on June 24.
(AFP, 6/23/10)
2010 Jun 24, Julia Gillard (48), a Welsh-born lawyer, became Australia's first female prime minister after the once hugely popular Kevin Rudd fell victim to a party coup less than three years after taking office. Gillard moved to revive a stalled carbon trading scheme, pledging more consultation with industry and voters to win support for an issue that has split the nation.
(AP, 6/24/10)(Reuters, 6/24/10)
2010 Jun 25, New Australia PM Julia Gillard pledged to end a mining tax row as soon as possible after spending her first day in power speaking to world leaders and assuring Washington of Canberra's commitment to Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jul 5, Australia's new leader launched a plan to make East Timor a hub for processing asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution across Asia while a debate rages in her country over illegal migration.
(AP, 7/5/10)
2010 Jul 5, In Australia Brendan Sokaluk pleaded not guilty to charges that he deliberately started one of the deadly wildfires that swept through southern Australia last year. The fires in Victoria state in February 2009 were Australia's deadliest, killing 173 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes. Brendan Sokaluk is accused of starting one blaze that investigators say killed 10 people.
(AP, 7/5/10)
2010 Jul 6, Australia's new PM Julia Gillard ended a three-month freeze on processing Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, and said a bar on Afghan claims was under review.
(AFP, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 8, Australian police investigated the mysterious mass poisoning of seven million tomato, eggplant and other crops which is expected to send prices soaring. Detectives probed whether vandals or a competitor with a grudge had put herbicide in sprinklers at a nursery near the northeastern city of Cairns, wiping out 16 million tons of produce, mostly tomatoes.
(AFP, 7/8/10)
2010 Jul 9, In Afghanistan an explosion ripped into a convoy of NATO and Afghan forces in eastern Nangarhar province, killing one civilian and wounding nine others. Australian Pvt. Nathan Bewes was killed just before midnight by a homemade bomb, the 6th Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan in just over a month.
(AP, 7/9/10)
2010 Jul 13, Australian police said they have seized 240 kg (530 pounds) of cocaine worth 84 million dollars ($73 million) which was stashed in paving stones. 4 men including an American, a Mexican and two Australians were arrested over the haul, Australia's fifth biggest cocaine seizure, which was discovered in two shipping containers sent to Melbourne from Mexico.
(AFP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 15, Australian scientists reported their discovery of bizarre prehistoric sea life hundreds of kilometers below the Great Barrier Reef, in an unprecedented mission to document species under threat from ocean warming.
(AFP, 7/15/10)
2010 Jul 19, American companies TPG and Carlyle Group edged out KKK in a takeover battle for Healthscope, an Australian hospital chain with a bid of $1.7 billion.
(Econ, 7/24/10, p.64)
2010 Jul 19, David Warren (b.1925), an Australian scientist who invented the "black box" flight data recorder, died. He designed and constructed a black box prototype in 1956, but it took several years before officials understood just how valuable the device could be and began installing them in commercial airlines worldwide. In 2002, Warren was awarded the Order of Australia, among the nation's highest civilian honors, for his work.
(AP, 7/20/10)
2010 Jul 20, The Australian Sex Party promised to spice up campaigning for next month's elections with a manifesto "unlike Australia had ever seen before." The party's policies include legalizing euthanasia, decriminalizing all drugs for personal use, and watering down strict anti-pornography laws.
(AFP, 7/20/10)
2010 Jul 24, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard pledged 400 million dollars (360 million US) to take old cars off the road and vowed to impose tougher fuel standards as part of her election policy on climate change.
(AP, 7/24/10)
2010 Jul 26, The Plastiki sailboat, largely constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles, docked in Sydney Harbor completing a 4-month journey across the Pacific Ocean meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 29, Australia said it will impose new sanctions against Iran, including restrictions for the first time on business dealings with that country's oil and gas sector.
(AP, 7/29/10)
2010 Jul 30, The Australian government committed to expanding its fiber broadband Internet network to a further 300,000 homes across the vast island continent if re-elected at next month's polls.
(AFP, 7/30/10)
2010 Jul 31, UNESCO added seven cultural sites to its World Heritage List including Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, home to nuclear bomb testing in the 1940s and 1950s. Also added to the list were the Turaif District in Saudi Arabia; Australia's penal colony sites; the Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site in India; a shrine in Ardabil in Iran; the Tabriz historic bazaar complex, also in Iran; and the historic villages of Hahoe and Yangdong in South Korea.
(AP, 8/1/10)
2010 Aug 2, In Australia publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk (25) sued Australia's poshest department store and its former head, Mark McInnes, for 33 million US dollars over alleged sexual misconduct that led to the disgraced chief executive's resignation. McInnes abruptly quit in June after claims of inappropriate behavior were made.
(AP, 8/2/10)
2010 Aug 6, Australian scientists reported a study revealing that sea sponges share almost 70 percent of human genes.
(AFP, 8/6/10)
2010 Aug 9, A leading Chinese general urged closer ties with Australia's military, amid a continuing freeze on Beijing's contacts with the Pentagon.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 13, In Australia 2 men were gunned down in a popular Melbourne bar area, shortly after the killing of a known crime figure sparked fears of a new gang war in the city's notorious underworld.
(AFP, 8/13/10)
2010 Aug 18, Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton launched an enormous hostile takeover bid for Canada's Potash Corp which values the world's largest fertilizer producer at 40 billion dollars.
(AP, 8/18/10)
2010 Aug 19, An Australian Muslim woman, who sought permission to keep her face and head covered while she gives evidence at an upcoming trial, was told by a judge she would have to remove her veil. She is a prosecution witness in a case against the director of a company that ran a Muslim women's college in Perth. The director, Anwar Sayed, is accused of inflating the number of students at the school in 2006 and 2007 to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grants.
(AP, 8/19/10)
2010 Aug 19, Neil P. Campbell, An Australian construction manager, was indicted Aug. 19 by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on the charge of receiving a bribe while working for an organization receiving US government funds. On Oct 13 he was detained in India for allegedly taking a $190,000 bribe to allow a subcontractor to build a hospital and college in Afghanistan.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2010 Aug 20, BHP Billiton Group announced commencement of all cash-offer to acquire Potash Corp. for $130 per share. On Nov 3 Canada blocked the Anglo-Australian mining giant’s $39 billion bid. The deal would have cost Saskatchewan an estimated C$200m a year in tax revenues.
(Reuters, 8/20/10)(Reuters, 11/3/10)(Econ, 11/6/10, p.50)
2010 Aug 21, Australians voted between giving their first female prime minister her own election mandate and returning to a conservative government after just three years. The inconclusive election left the nation facing its first hung parliament since 1940. Both Labor and the Liberal-led coalition conceded that neither is likely to hold the 76 seats needed to form a government in the 150-seat lower chamber.
(Reuters, 8/21/10)(AP, 8/22/10)
2010 Aug 21, In Australia Ken Wyatt (b.1952) took office as the country’s first indigenous member of the House of Representatives. In 2017 he became Minister for Indigenous Health, the country’s first aboriginal minister.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wyatt)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.34)
2010 Aug 22, Australian PM Julia Gillard vowed to keep the country stable after a voter backlash produced a rare hung parliament, raising fears of political paralysis and economic pain. Gillard and Tony Abbott, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, said they had initiated talks with three independents in the House of Representatives as well as the Greens party in a bid to secure their votes in the House of Representatives.
(AP, 8/22/10)
2010 Aug 27, Australian police warned social networking sites to be alert to illegal child sex activity, after cracking an alleged pedophile porn ring operating on Facebook. Australian police said six arrests had been made in Britain, including the alleged head of the network, three in Australia and two in Canada.
(AFP, 8/27/10)
2010 Sep 2, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard edged closer to retaining power when an independent lawmaker said he would support her center-left Labor Party to form Australia's first minority government in almost seven decades.
(AP, 9/2/10)
2010 Sep 7, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard will lead the country's first minority government in 67 years after two independent lawmakers threw their support behind her center-left Labor Party, ending two weeks of uncertainty left by national elections that ended on a knife-edge.
(AP, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 8, In Australia a kangaroo was beaten to death with a metal pole in the Great Otway National Park in the southern state of Victoria. Three 8th grade pupils were later suspended from school as authorities investigated the beating.
(AFP, 9/17/10)
2010 Sep 11, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard unveiled her new cabinet, with Wayne Swan retaining his treasury portfolio and former climate minister Penny Wong moved to the senior finance portfolio. Former PM Kevin Rudd was named as the country’s new foreign minister, a high-profile and coveted posting that will be seen as a consolation prize for being ousted from the leadership.
(Reuters, 9/11/10)(AP, 9/11/10)
2010 Sep 16, Australian scientists said they had made a breakthrough in the fight to save the cancer-hit Tasmanian devil by mapping the species' genome for the first time.
(AFP, 9/16/10)
2010 Sep 20, In Australia a Fijian man died suddenly at a Sydney immigration center, with a protest breaking out in the compound after claims he had jumped from a rooftop fearing deportation.
(AFP, 9/20/10)
2010 Sep 26, Australian climate change activists closed down operations at the world's largest coal port after entering its three terminals and attaching themselves to loaders.
(Reuters, 9/26/10)
2010 Sep 28, Australia’s new Parliament was sworn in and included Ed Husic, the country’s first elected Muslim, who was sworn in with his hand on his parents' Koran.
(AFP, 9/28/10)
2010 Sep 28, An Australian mining company said it has discovered deposits in Mozambique of rare minerals with a variety of industrial uses. The minerals found included dysprosium, used to make laser materials and in components of nuclear reactors.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Sep 28, In Malaysia Kylie Tanti Marion (42), an Australian woman, fell to her death when her parachute failed to open after she jumped off the Alor Setar Tower to practice for the KL Tower International Jump on Oct. 7.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Oct 2, Australian PM Julia Gillard met the chief of international forces in Afghanistan and vowed support for the US-led mission in a surprise visit to troops on her first overseas trip as leader.
(AFP, 10/2/10)
2010 Oct 7, Australian PM Julia Gillard dropped her unpopular "citizens' assembly" to guide climate change policy after the plan drew fierce criticism during the recent election campaign.
(AFP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 8, In Australia plan was released by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to restore ailing rivers, posing a new headache for the Labor minority government. Farmers would lose more than a third of irrigation water in the major food bowl.
(Reuters, 10/8/10)
2010 Oct 10, The 10/10/10 event known as the "Global Work Party" kicked off in Australia and New Zealand before spinning its way across the globe with events in 188 countries. Environmental campaigners planted trees, collected rubbish and rallied against pollution for what organizers aimed to make the world's biggest day of climate-change activism.
(AFP, 10/10/10)
2010 Oct 10, Dame Joan Sutherland (83), renowned Australian opera soprano, died at her home in Switzerland.
(SFC, 10/12/10, p.C3)
2010 Oct 12, Australian PM Julia Gillard renewed her backing for a controversial Internet filter, saying it was driven by a "moral question."
(AFP, 10/12/10)
2010 Oct 13, Australia and Indonesia agreed to further discuss plans for a refugee centre in East Timor to stem the flow of asylum seekers through Southeast Asia on their way to Australia.
(AFP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 14, Australian police seized half-a-ton of cocaine from a luxury yacht in one of the country's largest ever hauls of the drug. 3 Australians were charged in connection with the yacht seizure.
(AFP, 10/14/10)
2010 Oct 17, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Australia's first saint, canonizing Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), a 19th-century nun. The Vatican also declared five other saints in an open-air Mass attended by tens of thousands. Brother Andre (1845-1937), a Canadian, Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla da Varano, and Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola were also canonized.
(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 18, Australia’s Justice Minister Brendan O'Connor said illegal pornographic material must be declared on arrival, watering down recent rules that asked for all pornography to be revealed. The government said it changed the wording on passenger arrival cards after becoming aware of confusion among travelers about what pornography to declare.
(AFP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 25, The Singapore and Australian stock exchanges announced an 8.3 billion dollar merger that would create one of the world's largest and most diversified financial trading hubs.
(AFP, 10/25/10)(Econ, 10/30/10, p.78)
2010 Nov 1, Australian police said a mother (55) and son (28), along with a 33-year-old Hong Kong man, have been charged over one of the country's biggest heroin hauls after drugs with a potential street value of 405 million US dollars were found in a shipment of doors.
(AFP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 1, Britain's BG Group announced it will spend 15 billion US dollars on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia, an investment Canberra hailed as a boost for the national economy.
(AFP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 3, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan vowed to crack down on "arrogant" banks in an extraordinary attack as major lenders face mounting anger over rising interest rates and fees.
(AFP, 11/3/10)
2010 Nov 4, A Qantas A380 with more than 450 people on board made a dramatic forced landing in Singapore, trailing smoke from a blackened engine after the Airbus superjumbo's first mid-air emergency. In response Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines suspended flights of the Airbus A380 superjumbos. In 2013 the engine failure was traced to an oil pipe that failed to conform to design specifications.
(AFP, 11/4/10)(Reuters, 11/4/10)(AP, 6/27/13)
2010 Nov 6, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said their countries would enhance their military and defense cooperation by expanding joint exercises and the use of each other's training facilities. They also pledged to work together to influence the behavior of an increasingly assertive China.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 8, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard said the government plans to hold a referendum within three years on whether to amend its constitution to acknowledge the Aborigines as the first Australians.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 8, Qantas extended the grounding of its Airbus A380 superjumbos for at least three more days after finding oil leaks in some engines, heightening safety fears after two mid-air blow-outs last week.
(AFP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 18, Australian officials said they would deport Gabe Watson, an American man convicted in the 2003 death of his wife on a scuba-diving honeymoon after US officials pledged not to seek the death penalty if he is convicted again at home.
(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 20, In Australia David Auchterlonie was murdered on his 17th birthday in New South Wales. Mathew Milat (17) and Cohen Klein (18) had planned for over a week to lure Auchterlonie to his death. In 2012 Matthew Milat, a relative of serial killer Ivan Milat, pleaded guilty to the ax murder and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Cohen Klein also pleaded guilty and was sentenced for at least 22 years.
(AFP, 6/8/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belanglo_State_Forest)
2010 Nov 22, In Australia police said that an ongoing operation has smashed a cartel that has raked in an estimated 400 million Australian dollars ($395 million). Police had already arrested 34 people and seized 6,000 cannabis plants in the biggest series of drug raids in the history of Victoria state.
(AP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, Australia promised to be a future long-tem supplier of rare earths to Japan, after China suspended shipments of the minerals to its neighbor.
(Reuters, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 24, Australia said that a Thai-owned oil firm's "widespread and systematic shortcomings" caused the worst offshore drilling accident in the country's history, which created a massive oil slick. Thousands of barrels of oil gushed into the sea from a damaged well after a blow out on the West Atlas rig on August 21, 2009, prompting the evacuation of workers.
(AFP, 11/24/10)
2010 Nov 27, Australia's Qantas Airways resumed flights of its Airbus A380 superjumbos, after a mid-flight engine failure grounded all six of the planes earlier this month.
(Reuters, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov, Sarah Bara was beaten to death with sticks on Groote Eylandt off the northern Australian coast. In 2011 Glenys Wurrawilya, Susie Wurrawilya, Paul Wurramara and Roderick Mamarika received sentences ranging from five years to seven-and-a-half years in jail. The four were accused of killing Ms Bara during a fire circle ceremony in which they attempted to cleanse her of the devil.
(AP, 12/23/11)(http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=189133)
2010 Dec 2, Australia's PM Julia Gillard slammed WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents as "illegal," in the country's strongest condemnation yet of the website's ongoing release of sensitive data.
(AP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 2, Australian contractor Leighton Holdings said it had won a 22-year coal mining contract with India's state-owned NTPC power company worth 5.5 billion dollars (5.3 billion US).
(AFP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 3, Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian mining firm, announced a joint venture with Chinalco, to hunt for minerals in China.
(Econ, 12/18/10, p.130)
2010 Dec 8, Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said that the US government is responsible for the leaking of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic memos and cautioned against blaming the website that published the secret cables and its founder.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, Australia's attorney general declared 45 communities along the country's east coast disaster areas, following weeks of drenching rains that have submerged homes, destroyed crops and killed four people.
(AP, 12/10/10)
2010 Dec 12, Australia unveiled tough changes to finance laws, banning unpopular mortgage fees and cracking down on price collusion between major banks in a bid to boost competition in the sector.
(AFP, 12/12/10)
2010 Dec 15, Australia signed an agreement with Brazil to share knowledge on putting on the Olympics to help preparations with Rio's hosting of the 2016 Games.
(AFP, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 15, In New South Wales, Australia, police found seven boxes of chemical glassware used to make drugs when a van was stopped outside the town of Quirindi. A forensic search of the van later found 43 pounds of hidden ecstasy tablets with a street value of about 20 million Australian dollars ($19.7 million).
(AP, 12/19/10)
2010 Dec 15, In violent seas off Australia’s Christmas Island at least 48 refugees, thought to be from Iran and Iraq, died after their wooden boat shattered before horrified witnesses. 42 survivors, including 9 children were rescued. On January 24, 2011, Australian authorities charged three Indonesian men with people smuggling. Iranian-born Ali Khorram Heydarkhani (40) was detained by Indonesian authorities on January 25 but only sent to Australia after overstaying his visa. On May 12, 2011, he was charged in Sydney with offences relating to the boatpeople disaster.
(AFP, 12/15/10)(AP, 12/16/10)(AP, 12/20/10)(AP, 1/25/11)(AFP, 5/12/11)
2010 Dec 15, Ben Zygier (34) reportedly committed suicide in a high-security Israeli jail after being held for months in great secrecy. His body was soon flown from Israel to Melbourne for burial. The Australian man had reportedly been recruited by the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Zygier's crime was to inadvertently reveal the identity of Ziad al-Homsi to a Lebanese man he was trying to turn into a double agent, but who worked for Lebanese intelligence. Al-Homsi had been approached by Mossad in 2007 and flown to China on the pretext of attending a mayoral convention.
(Reuters, 2/12/13)(AP, 2/19/13)(Reuters, 5/7/13)
2010 Dec 21, The Australian Defense Force said steroids and unidentified substances had been seized in recent raids after a tip-off. A report claimed Australian sailors have been stashing large amounts of cocaine and heroin on navy ships and selling them in Sydney's red light district and that this has been going on "for years."
(AFP, 12/21/10)
2010 Dec 22, In Australia Kok Loong Wong of Malaysia appeared in a Sydney court charged with possessing 200 pounds (90 kg) of crystal meth in his home, the seventh-largest "ice" haul in Australian history.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2010 Dec 23, In Australia Melbourne men Wissam Mahmoud Fattal (34), Nayef El Sayed (26), both of Lebanese descent, and Somali-origin Saney Edow Aweys (27) were found guilty of conspiring to plan a terrorist act, which carries a possible life term. Two other men, Somali-origin Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed (26) and Yacqub Khayre (23) were found not guilty after the three-month trial.
(AP, 12/23/10)
2010 Dec 23, Anglo-Australian resources giant Rio Tinto made a 3.9 billion US dollar offer for Australia's Riversdale, sparking speculation of a bidding war for its African steel-making coal with Indian and other rivals.
(AP, 12/23/10)
2010 Dec 28, In Australia drenching rains pounded communities across the northeast, flooding major highways and prompting hundreds of evacuations.
(AP, 12/28/10)
2010 Dec 29, Australia’s military cleared a town in eastern Australia, airlifting the entire population of 300 people by helicopter in Theodore, where waters were continuing to rise after days of drenching rain. A total of 1,000 people were evacuated from central and southern Queensland state.
(AP, 12/29/10)
2010 Dec 31, In Australia floodwater rose across a vast area in the northeast, inundating 22 towns, forcing 200,000 residents out of their homes, and closing a major sugar export port.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Australian PM Kevin Rudd penned a children's book featuring his family pets. It was titled "Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle."
(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010 Australia’s population was about 22 million and was expected to reach 36 million in 2050.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.46)
2011 Jan 1, Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in the flooded city of Bundaberg that the flood disaster was of biblical proportions. Days of driving rain last week swamped northeastern Australia, with around 200,000 people affected by floodwaters in an area larger than France and Germany combined.
(AP, 1/1/10)
2011 Jan 3, Australian military flights rushed to restock the coastal city of Rockhampton before it was cut off by floodwaters that have turned a huge swath of the Outback into a lake. Police confirmed two more deaths in the crisis.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011 Jan 5, Queensland's premier said Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt. Officials and scientists said the disastrous floods have spread to 40 towns and threatened the world-famous Great Barrier Reef as tons of sludge poured into the sea.
(AP, 1/5/11)(AFP, 1/5/11)
2011 Jan 8, In Australia almost a foot of rain in just a few hours renewed flood fears in the already waterlogged Queensland state, sending a surging river over its banks and into another large town. Some 20 buildings in Maryborough, where about 22,000 people live, were expected to be flooded after the river burst its banks in the overnight downpour.
(AP, 1/8/11)
2011 Jan 9, In Australia a swollen river submerged bridges and inundated homes and stores in Australia's already sodden Queensland state as more heavy rain added to the country's worst flooding in decades.
(AP, 1/9/11)
2011 Jan 10, In Australia flash floods swept through the city of Toowoomba, killing at least four people, trapping others in cars and leaving some clinging to trees. A 26-foot (8-m) wall of water was coursing through the low-lying communities from Toowoomba and eastward toward Queensland’s state capital, Brisbane.
(AP, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 11, In Australia thousands of people fled central Brisbane as the panicked city braced for its worst flooding in 120 years. Terrifying flash floods already left 10 dead and 78 missing nearby.
(AFP, 1/11/11)
2011 Jan 12, In Australia floodwaters poured into the empty downtown of Australia's third-largest city after tearing a deadly path across the northeast, swamping neighborhoods in what could be Brisbane's most devastating floods in a century.
(AP, 1/12/11)
2011 Jan 13, Australia's 3rd-largest city Brisbane resembled a "war zone" with whole suburbs under water and infrastructure smashed as the worst flood in decades hit 30,000 properties. The Brisbane River peaked at 4.5 meters. The flooding in Queensland left 28 people dead.
(AP, 1/13/11)(SFC, 1/17/11, p.A2)(Econ, 1/15/11, p.45)
2011 Jan 18, In Australia the city of Horsham, Victoria state, resembled a lake after the Wimmera River overflowed its banks and bisected the community before starting to recede. The weekslong flooding crisis has left 30 people dead.
(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 20, In Australia a surging river flooded and isolated Kerang, Victoria state, the latest community hit in the deadly flood disaster, straining a levee serving as the main protection between the muddy waters and residents' homes. The flooding shut down much of Queensland's lucrative coal industry and has caused 30 deaths.
(AP, 1/20/11)
2011 Jan 24, Lara Giddings took over as premier Australia’s island state of Tasmania.
(Econ, 2/12/11, p.49)
2011 Jan 27, Australia imposed a temporary new tax to help fund a multi-billion-dollar rebuilding program after floods devastated infrastructure and ruined thousands of homes and businesses across the eastern seaboard over the past month.
(Reuters, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan, In Australia Lynette Daley (33), an Aboriginal woman, was found bloodied and bruised on Ten Mile Beach in northern New South Wales. An autopsy found she died from blunt force genital tract trauma after allegedly being subject to a violent sex act by a man assumed to be her boyfriend Adrian Attwater and his friend Paul Maris. For five years prosecutors refused to try Adrian Attwater and Paul Maris for her death.
(http://tinyurl.com/zej5sor)(SFC, 12/17/16, p.A4)
2011 Feb 1, Australia evacuated thousands of people from its northeast coast as a cyclone rivaling Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism towns and rural communities.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 2, In northeastern Australia Cyclone Yasi ripped roofs from buildings and cut power to thousands of homes. The scale of disaster was unknown as officials and residents holed up while the tempest raged.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011 Feb 2, In Afghanistan Australian Corporal Richard Edward Atkinson (22) was killed while on patrol in Uruzgan's Deh Rahwod. This upped the number of Australian troops killed in the conflict to 22.
(AFP, 2/3/11)
2011 Feb 3, Australia's biggest cyclone in a century shattered entire towns after pummeling the coast and churning across the country. One man asphyxiated while sheltering inside during the massive cyclone and become the storm's first fatality.
(AFP, 2/3/11)(AP, 2/3/11)
2011 Feb 5, In Australia torrential rains and flash floods trapped scores of people in homes and cars following a massive cyclone, piling on more misery after weeks of record inundations.
(AFP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 6, In Australia wildfires destroyed homes around Perth and flooding claimed the life of a man near Wagga Wagga, as officials warned that last week's monster cyclone would compound economic woes.
(AFP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 7, In Western Australia firefighters battled two wildfires, water bombing them from above as they tried to stop their spread. One on the outskirts of Perth destroyed at least 40 homes and left a firefighter injured.
(AP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, Australian firefighters brought a raging wildfire that destroyed 68 houses and damaged 32 others near the city of Perth under control.
(AP, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 10, Australian PM Julia Gillard introduced contentious legislation for a one-off tax to help pay for devastating floods which killed 35 people and swamped thousands of homes.
(AFP, 2/10/11)
2011 Feb 17, An Australian diver was killed by sharks in south Australia, in only the second fatal shark attack in Australian waters in more than two years.
(AP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 19, An Australian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were shot dead by insurgents in Uruzgan province, bringing Australia's death toll from the conflict to 23.
(AP, 2/19/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Australia hundreds of thousands of revelers crammed inner Sydney streets for one of the world's premier gay and lesbian parades.
(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 9, In Australia Todd Bairstow (28) was fishing with his dog at a creek near the town of Weipa in northern Queensland when a four-meter (13-feet) saltwater crocodile lunged at him and tried to drag him under the water. The crocodile only retreated after Bairstow's friend heard his screams from the nearby pub and helped beat off the predator.
(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 10, Australia’s Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the nation’s spy agency ASIO has established a 'cyber' intelligence unit to counter possible terror attacks on computer systems from abroad.
(AFP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 10, The Natural History Museum in London said that it has agreed to return 138 sets of skeletal remains of indigenous people to Australia, in what it hailed as a new approach to the delicate subject of repatriation.
(AFP, 3/10/11)
2011 Mar 13, In Australia Owsley Stanley (b.1935), counterculture maker of LSD and Grateful Dead associate, died in a car crash. His Bear Research Group reputedly made over 1.25 million doses of LSD from 1965-1967.
(SFC, 3/14/11, p.A1)
2011 Mar 15, Australia's remote Christmas Island detention centre was hit by a second night of riots, with up to 200 asylum seekers destroying closed-circuit television cameras.
(AFP, 3/15/11)
2011 Mar 17, In Australia a pod of long-finned pilot whales beached themselves at Bruny Island, south of the Tasmanian state capital Hobart. 21 whales died but 11 were saved.
(AP, 3/18/11)
2011 Mar 23, Scientists warned that up to 45 rare species of wallaby, bandicoot and other Australian animals could become extinct within 20 years unless urgent action is taken to control introduced predators and other threats.
(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 24, Eyad Abuarga, an Palestinian-born Australian information technology expert, was detained in Israel over alleged links to Hamas.
(AFP, 5/29/11)(http://tinyurl.com/4xfnexu)
2011 Mar 26, Voters in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, delivered a crushing defeat to PM Julia Gillard's Labor party, handing power to the conservative opposition in a landslide.
(Reuters, 3/26/11)
2011 Mar 27, Yang Hengjun (46), a Sydney-based spy novelist, phoned an assistant from Guangzhou airport in southeastern China to say three men were following him. Yang was later able to briefly phone a sister in Guangzhou to say "he's having a long chat with his old friends." This was a prearranged signal that Yang had been taken by the secret police. Yang was an official in the Chinese Foreign Ministry before moving to Australia. His novel, "Fatal Weakness," deals with espionage between China and the United States and has been published on the Internet in China. On March 31 Hengjun said he is OK and apologizing for causing trouble.
(AP, 3/29/11)(AP, 3/31/11)
2011 Mar 28, Australia launched its first national health TV advertising campaign aimed at Aboriginal people, hoping to halve the 50 percent of indigenous people who smoke by 2018.
(AFP, 3/28/11)
2011 Mar 28, Australia's annual cane toad cull was declared a success by organizers who said that more than 14,000 of the noxious pests had perished as a result. The number of cane toads across Australia is estimated to have ballooned to more than 200 million since being introduced from Brazil in the 1930s to control scarab beetles infesting the country's sugar cane.
(AFP, 3/28/11)
2011 Mar 29, In Australia Sydney's Daily Telegraph said American intelligence officials tipped off the government that several thousand emails may have been accessed from the computers of at least 10 ministers including PM Julia Gillard's parliamentary computer. Chinese intelligence agencies were among the list of foreign hackers that were under suspicion.
(AFP, 3/29/11)
2011 Apr 4, The Australian Institute of Criminology's "Fraud against the Commonwealth" report showed Australia is losing almost Aus$600 million a year to social security fraud and crooked public servants as the government announced new measures to tackle the menace.
(AFP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 6, The Australian military was hit by another scandal after a young army recruit allegedly filmed himself having sex with a female cadet and broadcast it via Skype to his friends.
(AFP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 8, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan officially rejected a proposed merger of the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges, branding it a takeover by the city-state that offered no benefits.
(AFP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 11, Australia fined Japan Airlines (JAL) Aus$5.5 million (US$5.8 million) after the carrier admitted its role in a long-running cargo cartel case involving 15 airlines. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said JAL admitted to "making and giving effect to illegal price-fixing understandings with other international airlines" on fuel, insurance and security surcharges.
(AFP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 15, An Australian Crime Commission report said organized crime costs Australia up to Aus$15 billion (US$15.8 billion) each year. The report warned that opportunities for illegal activity were unprecedented.
(AFP, 4/14/11)
2011 Apr 20, A South Australian politician was detained and charged with four child pornography offences.
(AFP, 4/21/11)
2011 Apr 22, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto settled a long-running dispute over Guinea's huge Simandou iron ore field, with the West African nation agreeing to take a stake of up to 35 percent.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 26, Australian PM Julia Gillard, visiting China, raised a range of human rights concerns in talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who denied China had taken a "backward step."
(AFP, 4/26/11)
2011 Apr 27, In Australia University of Sydney officials said an anonymous American donor has given "Jeune fille endormie, a 1935 Pablo Picasso painting worth millions, to the university on the condition the school use proceeds from the painting's sale to fund scientific research. The portrait was donated last year.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 Apr 29, In Australia a gunman killed three neighbors then shot a police officer in the face during a shootout and siege in the normally sleepy city of Adelaide.
(AP, 4/29/11)
2011 May 2, The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Benedict XVI had "removed from pastoral care" Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane. Morris had called on the church to consider ordaining women and married men.
(AP, 5/2/11)
2011 May 5, Australian police said they have arrested four people and seized 239 kg (527 pounds) of methamphetamine, or ice, in the country's biggest bust of its kind.
(AFP, 5/5/11)
2011 May 6, Australia's Defence Ministry announced it will slash 1,000 civilian jobs as part of a belt-tightening exercise to bring the national budget back into surplus.
(AFP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 7, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard said Malaysia has agreed to take hundreds of asylum seekers who land in Australia illegally and called this "big blow" to people smugglers.
(AFP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 9, In Australia organizers of the Sydney Writers' Festival said Chinese authorities have barred dissident writer Liao Yiwu from traveling to Australia for a festival for "security reasons" and advised him against publishing his works abroad.
(AFP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 9, Abu Dhabi donated US$32 million dollars to Queensland to help protect the Australian state from cyclones in the wake of a monster storm that hit in February.
(AFP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 11, In Australia WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's top honor for "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights", joining the likes of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
(AFP, 5/11/11)
2011 May 11, India said it had lodged a complaint with the Australian government over swimwear carrying the image of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi that has sparked protests. Fashion house Lisa Blue promised to halt production immediately and apologized for any offence the design may have caused.
(AFP, 5/11/11)
2011 May 12, In Australia two Malaysians were arrested and charged with importing heroin into Australia with a street value of more than Aus$50 million (US$53 million), the country's biggest haul in a decade.
(AFP, 5/12/11)
2011 May 16, Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald said a development application has been lodged for a Aus$12 million (US$12.7 million) extension to the Stiletto brothel, which proposes doubling its size to 40 working rooms and 21 waiting rooms.
(AFP, 5/16/11)
2011 May 27, Australian anesthesiologist, Dr. James Latham Peters (61), was charged with endangering his patients' lives after police alleged he infected nearly 50 women with hepatitis C at an abortion clinic.
(AP, 5/27/11)
2011 May 27, It was reported that A 22-year-old Australian university student has solved a problem which has puzzled astrophysicists for decades, discovering part of the so-called "missing mass" of the universe during her summer break. Undergraduate Amelia Fraser-McKelvie made the breakthrough during a holiday internship with a team at Monash University's School of Physics, locating the mystery material within vast structures called "filaments of galaxies."
(AFP, 5/27/11)
2011 May 28, Thousands of people turned out for Australia's first "SlutWalk," protesting for women to be able to wear whatever they like without fear of being sexually assaulted. SlutWalk began in Canada in April after a Toronto police official said that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."
(AFP, 5/29/11)
2011 May 30, Australian robots have begun talking to each other in a language of their own devising. Two "Lingodroids," developed by the University of Queensland, have picked up their shared language by playing location games that led them to construct a shared vocabulary for places, distances and directions.
(Reuters, 5/30/11)
2011 Jun 5, Thousands of Australians across the country rallied to support a tax on the carbon emissions blamed for global warming, as a new report outlined the risks of rising sea levels from climate change.
(AFP, 6/5/11)
2011 Jun 19, In Fiji Agape Ministries leader Rocco Leo, a fugitive Australian cult leader, was picked up by officials, along with two associates, for alleged visa breaches. On May 20, 2010, Australian police raided 12 properties associated with Agape and netted 15 guns, slow-burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
(www.religionnewsblog.com/26049/cult-leader-rocco-leo-arrested)(AFP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 21, In Australia Hundreds of flights were grounded in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra as the Chilean ash cloud returned to Australia with a vengeance.
(AFP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 24, UNESCO added the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia, Japan's remote Ogasawara Islands and the Kenya Lake System in the Rift Valley province, to its heritage list.
(AFP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jun 27, In Australia Hong Kong-based Philip Morris Asia Limited launched legal action against the government over plans to strip company logos from cigarette packages and replace them with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes.
(AP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jul 1, Australian federal police charged two currency printing firms and several of their former senior managers with bribing foreign officials to secure bank note supply contracts. The charges against Securency International Pty Ltd., one of the world's leading currency printing firms, and Note Printing Australia Ltd. related to alleged bribes paid to officials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam between 1999 and 2005.
(AP, 7/1/11)
2011 Jul 2, Australian aviation regulators grounded budget carrier Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore's Tiger Airways, because it posed a "serious and imminent risk to air safety", throwing the travel plans of thousands of people into chaos.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 2, Australian officials worked to isolate potential victims after uncovering two more cases of the deadly horse-borne Hendra virus, which has erupted in New south Wales and Queensland. Hendra can lead to fatal respiratory illness and has killed four of the seven people who have contracted it in Australia since it was first documented in 1994.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 6, Australia announced it would lift a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia and resume trade with additional safeguards in place to address animal cruelty concerns.
(AFP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jul 10, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard announced plans to tax carbon pollution at Aus$23 (US$24.74) per ton to help battle climate change, as it moved towards creating the region's biggest emissions trading scheme.
(AFP, 7/10/11)(Econ, 7/16/11, p.41)
2011 Jul 12, Australia's major alcohol brands launched voluntary health warnings on their labels targeting children, pregnant women and excessive boozing in a country famed for its binge-drinking culture.
(AFP, 7/12/11)
2011 Jul 17, Christian Martinez, an Australian convert to Islam, was pinned down and lashed 40 times for drinking alcohol by a group of 4 Muslim men who broke into his Sidney home to punish him for breaking sharia law. Two of the men were soon charged with aggravated breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offense.
(AFP, 7/19/11)(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Jul 21, Australian police raided the Sydney offices of Greenpeace over their destruction of an experimental crop of genetically modified wheat at a government research farm.
(AFP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 24, Cadel Evans won the Tour de France, becoming the first Australian to capture cycling's most prestigious title.
(AP, 7/24/11)
2011 Jul 25, The Catholic Church in Australia apologized for the forced adoption of babies from young, unwed mothers in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, saying the practice was "deeply regrettable."
(AFP, 7/25/11)
2011 Jul 26, Australia authorities said a lethal bat-borne horse virus has been detected in a dog for the first time, prompting fears it has jumped species.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 26, Australian painter Margaret Olley (88), one of Australia's most important and respected artists, was found dead at her Sydney home. She was best known for her colorful still life paintings.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 27, In Australia a 25-year-old unemployed truck driver (online nickname "Evil"), who had been unable to find a job in information technology, faced 49 charges after a six-month investigation into his online activities.
(AP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jul 28, Australian farmer Steve Marsh launched legal action against neighbor Michael Baxter after genetically modified canola blew onto his farm, prompting authorities to strip him of his organic license.
(AFP, 7/28/11)
2011 Aug 3, In Australia a masked man, later identified as Paul Peters, strapped a fake bomb to the neck of Madeleine Pulver (18) in her suburban Sydney home. Pulver endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal with experts working into the night to remove the device, only later establishing it was an elaborate hoax. Peters fled to the US and was arrested nearly two weeks later in Louisville, Kentucky. He was extradited to Australia and faced 20 years in prison. On Nov 20 Peters was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison.
(Reuters, 8/16/11)(AFP, 3/8/12)(AP, 10/31/12)(AP, 11/20/12)
2011 Aug 10, Australian Clifford John Gerathy (60), accused of funneling Aus$17.2 million ($17.8 million) in bribes to a Vietnamese official and falsifying Malaysian accounts, was charged over a banknotes scandal. He was charged with conspiracy to bribe a foreign public official and false accounting.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 10, Australian aviation authorities lifted a 6-week flying ban on the local unit of Tiger Airways after the budget carrier agreed to new conditions including extra training for pilots.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 15, Paul "Doug" Peters, a man wanted in Australia for allegedly strapping a fake bomb to the neck of a teenage girl in a suburban Sydney home on August 3, was arrested near Louisville, Kentucky.
(Reuters, 8/16/11)
2011 Aug 17, SABMiller, one of the world's largest brewers, said it will take a $10 billion bid for rival Foster's Group Ltd. straight to the Australian company's shareholders after the board rejected its offer as too low.
(AP, 8/17/11)
2011 Aug 22, Bosses at Australia's BlueScope steel were attacked for pocketing "obscene" bonuses worth Aus$3.0 million (US$3.1 million), after they sacked 1,000 workers and abandoned their export business.
(AFP, 8/22/11)
2011 Aug 24, In eastern Australia an overnight house fire killed 11 people, including eight children, from two families in Logan City, Queensland state.
(AP, 8/24/11)
2011 Aug 31, Australia's High Court dealt a heavy blow to the government by blocking its plans to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia, ruling they could not go to a nation lacking legal safeguards.
(AFP, 8/31/11)
2011 Sep 4, In Australia a shark bit the legs off a bodyboarder, killing the man, at a popular surfing spot at Bunker Bay near the western town of Dunsborough.
(AP, 9/4/11)
2011 Sep 11, In Australia Andy Whitfield (39), who played the title role in the hit cable series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (2010), died in Sydney of lymphoma cancer.
(AP, 9/12/11)
2011 Sep 13, Australian lawmaker Nick Xenophon named Catholic priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey as having allegedly raped Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth in violent attacks dating back about 50 years.
(AFP, 9/13/11)
2011 Sep 15, Australia’s government said Australian passports will now have three gender options: male, female and indeterminate, under new guidelines to remove discrimination against transgender and intersex people.
(AP, 9/15/11)
2011 Sep 21, Australian beer giant Foster's said it has accepted an improved takeover worth Aus$9.9 billion (£6.5 billion) from British-based brewer SABMiller.
(AFP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 26, Australia opened frontline combat roles to women for the first time in its history under a new policy allowing all military positions to be filled on merit rather than gender.
(AFP, 9/27/11)
2011 Sep 27, In Australia thousands of international air travelers faced delays as Customs and Border Protection officers walked off the job at airports across the country after workers rejected a 9 percent pay rise over three years.
(AP, 9/27/11)
2011 Sep 28, In Australia popular right-wing columnist Andrew Bolt was found guilty of breaking Australian discrimination law by implying that fair-skinned Aborigines chose to identify as indigenous for profit and career advancement.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Oct 4, Apple Inc rejected an offer from Samsung Electronics Co to settle their tablet computer dispute in Australia, possibly killing off the commercial viability of the South Korean firm's new Galaxy tablet in that market.
(Reuters, 10/4/11)
2011 Oct 4, An Australian boy (14) was arrested in Indonesia for having bought 0.13 ounces (3.6 grams) of marijuana. He faced 12 years in detention under tough narcotics laws. The boy was released on Dec 4 because he admitted the purchase and repeatedly expressed remorse.
(AP, 12/4/11)
2011 Oct 6, Australian police said they have disrupted an international people smuggling ring by arresting two suspected key players in the syndicate following a 10-month undercover sting operation.
(AFP, 10/6/11)
2011 Oct 6, Australian actress Diane Cilento (78), who was once married to James Bond actor Sean Connery, died. In 1956 she was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Helen of Troy in the play "Tiger at the Gates." She received an Academy Award nomination in 1963 for best supporting actress for her work in the movie "Tom Jones."
(AP, 10/7/11)
2011 Oct 10, In Australia Bryn Martin (64) disappeared while swimming toward a buoy off Perth city's central Cottesloe Beach. Officials suspected that a shark attack killed Martin.
(AP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 22, Off southwest Australia a great white shark killed an American recreational diver in a third fatality in recent weeks.
(AP, 10/22/11)
2011 Oct 28, Commonwealth leaders agreed to drop rules that give sons precedence as heir to the throne and bar anyone in line for the crown from marrying a Roman Catholic. The agreement came on the sidelines of a Commonwealth summit presided over by the Queen in the west Australian city of Perth. Current succession rules, dating back to 1688 and 1700, were designed to ensure a Protestant monarchy, and bar anyone in line to the throne from marrying a Catholic.
(Reuters, 10/28/11)
2011 Oct 29, Australian flag carrier Qantas grounded its entire fleet indefinitely in a bitter industrial dispute. Months of strikes by baggage handlers, engineers and pilots have been costing Qantas Aus$15 million (£9.9 million) per week, with the total financial impact so far hitting Aus$68 million.
(AFP, 10/29/11)
2011 Oct 29, Commonwealth leaders meeting in Australia failed to establish a human rights watchdog for their 54-nation bloc, but insisted that progress had been made during their summit to promote democratic values.
(AFP, 10/29/11)
2011 Oct 30, In Australia the 3-day 54-nation Commonwealth summit, held once every two years, wrapped up with a joint communique. Among the forum's successes was the adoption of a measure that will coordinate global emergency relief efforts to deal with food supply crises.
(AP, 10/30/11)
2011 Oct 31, An Australian court ended the strikes and employee lockout that had abruptly grounded Qantas Airways and stranded tens of thousands of passengers worldwide. The government referred the dispute to Fair Work Australia, which ordered both sides into 21 days of talks.
(AP, 10/31/11)(Econ, 11/5/11, p.75)
2011 Nov 6, Afghan Pres. Karzai met with Australian PM Julia Gillard, who made an unannounced trip to the country. In the north 2 suicide bombers targeted worshippers on a key Muslim festival, killing seven, including two local police commanders of Old Baghlan City. A roadside bomb ripped through a police vehicle in the south, killing a district police chief and two of his bodyguards.
(AP, 11/6/11)(AFP, 11/7/11)
2011 Nov 8, Australia passed its controversial pollution tax in a sweeping and historic reform aimed at lowering carbon emissions blamed for climate change, after years of fierce debate.
(AFP, 11/8/11)
2011 Nov 8, In eastern Afghanistan up to 70 Taliban fighters were killed after trying to attack a foreign troop base in Paktika province. Mohammad Akbar, the governor of Sar Hawza district in Paktika, died in hospital after his car struck a roadside bomb in the province. A rogue Afghan soldier shot and wounded 3 Australian troops at a joint base at Charmistan, Uruzgan province. In February, 2012, a Taliban video had Mohammed Roozi talking about how he attacked Australian and Afghan soldiers at Patrol Base Nasir, saying he turned a machine gun and rocket launcher on them before going into hiding.
(AFP, 11/9/11)(AFP, 2/10/12)
2011 Nov 11, Australian police seized about 660 pounds (300 kg) of cocaine from a yacht at the northeastern coastal town of Bundaberg. Police said the yacht was crewed by Ivan Maria Ramos Valea (35) and Julia Maria Boada Fernandez (37), who were both arrested. Two other Spanish citizens, Miguel Angel Sanchez Barrocal (38) and Jose Herrero-Calvo (39) were also arrested in Bundaberg.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 12, In Australia 22 sperm whales and 2 minke whales died after getting stranded near Ocean Beach, Tasmania. Rescuers over the next 2 days saved two huge sperm whales stranded at Macquarie Harbor. Another died and a 4th remained stranded as weather worsened.
(AFP, 11/14/11)(AP, 11/15/11)
2011 Nov 16, US President Barack Obama arrived in Australia and announced a new security agreement with Australia. Obama said the US would keep sending a clear message that China needs to accept the responsibilities that come with being a world power. Obama also announced that US Marines would begin rotating through Darwin as part of the US military pivot to Asia.
(AP, 11/16/11)(SFC, 7/20/16, p.A2)
2011 Nov 17, Australian scientists exploring areas of the Indian Ocean said they had found sunken parts of the megacontinent Gondwana which could offer clues on how the current world was formed. This would hopefully shed light on how Gondwana broke into present-day Australia, Antarctica and India between 80 and 130 million years ago.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Nov 18, In Australia 4 people died as fires ravaged a nursing home in Sydney's suburban Quakers Hill neighborhood. A 5th died the next day and Nurse Roger Dean (35), who said he rescued patients from a fire, was charged with murder. On May 27, 2013 Dean pleaded guilty to murdering 11 elderly people by setting fire to their nursing home. On Aug 31, 2013, Dean was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 11/19/11)(SFC, 5/28/13, p.A2)(AP, 8/1/13)
2011 Nov 25, Australia loosened its highly charged policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat, freeing 27 from overcrowded, prison-like conditions and estimating more than 100 would be released monthly.
(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 25, Australia said it will create the world's largest marine reserve in the Coral Sea. The proposal includes seas beyond the already protected Great Barrier Reef Marine Park off northeast Australia.
(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Dec 4, Australia’s Labor party passed PM Julia Gillard's proposal with 206 votes to 185, reversing a decades-old policy excluding New Delhi from Australia's uranium trade because it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
(AFP, 12/4/11)
2011 Dec 5, In the Philippines several armed men abducted Warren Rodwell (53) of Australia from his home in the seaside town of Ipil on Mindanao island, then fled on speed boats. The kidnappers mailed four pictures of Rodwell before Christmas to his Filipino wife then called her to demand an initial ransom of $23,000 (1 million pesos). The ransom was soon raised to $2 million. Rodwell was released on March 23, 2013. On May 15, 2015, Jun Malban, a former Philippine policeman and cousin of one of the nation's top Islamic militants, was deported from Malaysia back to the Philippines for his role in the abduction.
(AFP, 12/5/11)(AP, 1/1/12)(AP, 1/5/12)(SSFC, 2/24/13, p.A3)(AFP, 5/18/15)
2011 Dec 6, Saudi Arabia sentenced an Australian man to 500 lashes and a year in jail after being found guilty of blasphemy. Reports said Mansor Almaribe (45) was detained in Medina on November 14 while making the hajj pilgrimage and accused of insulting companions of the prophet Mohammed. The father-of-five from Shepparton in Victoria state, who could not afford a lawyer, suffers from diabetes and heart disease.
(AFP, 12/7/11)
2011 Dec 9, Australia's highest court dismissed rival Apple's appeal in its global patent battle against South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. Samsung is now free to sell its Galaxy tablet computers in Australia.
(AP, 12/9/11)
2011 Dec 9, In Australia a senior Queensland Health executive, Hohepa Morehu-Barlow (36), also known as Joel Barlow, was being hunted after Aus$16 million (US$16 million) went missing from the government department. He was arrested at his own apartment Dec 12 after three days on the run from police following the discovery of his alleged theft.
(AFP, 12/9/11)(AP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 12, Senior Australian naval officer Lieutenant Commander John Alan Jones (58) was convicted by a court martial of repeatedly spanking a junior female sailor to test her discipline and obedience.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 15, Australia’s independent Remuneration Tribunal recommended pay hikes for most politicians and public servants. PM Julia Gillard was recommended for a bumper 31 percent rise to take her salary past that of US President Barack Obama.
(AFP, 12/15/11)
2011 Dec 19, Members of an Australian class action lawsuit, who blame a German pharmaceutical company's anti-morning sickness drug, Thalidomide, for causing birth defects, won the right to have their case heard in their own country. The class action against Grunenthal is open to Australians born between Jan. 1, 1958, and Dec. 31, 1970, who were injured after their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant.
(AP, 12/19/11)
2011 Dec 19, Belarus police arrested dozens of regime opponents who tried to stage a banned vigil in Minsk. Australian filmmaker Kitty Green (27) was detained while covering a topless protest outside the offices of the Belarussian KGB security services to mark Lukashenko's disputed re-election a year ago. Three members of the radical Femen group were also seized by KGB security agents who forced them to strip naked in a forest and threatened to torch them.
(AFP, 12/20/11)
2012 Jan 8, The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said three Australian activists were being held as "prisoners" by the Japanese harpoon fleet after sneaking aboard one of their vessels overnight to protest. The activists were transferred to an Australian customs vessel on Jan 13.
(AFP, 1/8/12)(AP, 1/13/12)
2012 Jan 12, The Australian military was rocked by more sex scandals, including allegations of assault, child porn, rape and drug-dealing within its ranks.
(AFP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 13, Japanese energy firm Inpex and French giant Total announced a huge $34 billion gas project in Australia, as Tokyo looks for alternatives to nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
(AFP, 1/13/12)
2012 Jan 24, Flooding in northeastern Australia caused thousands of homes to lose power and prompted authorities to start evacuations, around a year after deadly floods devastated the region.
(AFP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 26, Two Australian adventurers reached home and made Antarctic history by becoming the first team to travel unaided to the South Pole and back, surviving three months of "extreme hardship." James Castrission (29) an accountant, and Justin Jones (28), a scientist, skied 2,270 km (1,400 miles) to complete the arduous trek. The pair reached had the Pole on December 31.
(AFP, 1/26/12)
2012 Feb 1, Some 24,000 Australian ducks were being destroyed after testing positive for a low pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus, an outbreak which has prompted poultry export bans in parts of Asia.
(AFP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 3, Major flooding hit parts of Australia's east, stranding thousands of residents, prompting a military airlift and leaving some communities only accessible by helicopter.
(AFP, 2/3/12)
2012 Feb 4, In Australia celebrated filmmakers Andrew Wight (52) and Mike deGruy (60) died in a helicopter crash at Jasper's Brush. They were working on a documentary with Oscar-winning director James Cameron and National Geographic.
(AFP, 2/5/12)
2012 Feb 7, Australia imposed new travel bans and financial sanctions on Syrian leaders on as it stepped up actions to force an end to violence against Syria's civilian population.
(Reuters, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 15, In Australia some 3,500 workers from mining giant BHP Billiton's Queensland coal mines began a seven-day strike in what unions said was one of the nation's largest industrial stoppages in a decade.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 17, Budget carrier Air Australia collapsed, stranding thousands of passengers as its domestic flights and international services to Honolulu, Bali and Phuket were all grounded.
(AFP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 22, Australia's foreign minister Kevin Rudd resigned, saying he was unable to continue without PM Julia Gillard's support, paving the way for him to make a leadership challenge.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 22, Mining giant Rio Tinto said it has unearthed a "remarkable" 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, the largest of the rare and precious stones ever found in the resources-rich nation.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 29, A five-count indictment was returned in Washington accusing Australian David Levick of knowingly skirting a federal trade embargo with Iran and plotting to export the technology without the required authorization. Prosecutors said Levick and his company, ICM Components, Inc., ordered materials on behalf of an unnamed representative of an Iranian trade company. The export scheme spanned about two years starting around March 2007.
(AP, 3/1/12)
2012 Mar 1, In Malaysia Dominic Jude Christopher Bird (32), a truck driver Perth, Western Australia, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur in possession of 225 grams (7.9 ounces) of methamphetamine. He faced a possible death sentence.
(AFP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 3, Thousands of Australians were ordered to evacuate their homes in Sydney's northwest and elsewhere in New South Wales state as heavy rainfall flooded rivers and waterways.
(AFP, 3/3/12)
2012 Mar 5, In Australia New South Wales officials said Muslim women will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving state officials authority to look under religious and other face coverings.
(AP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 19, Australia’s parliament passed a mining tax on profits from coal and iron ore.
(Econ, 3/24/12, p.41)
2012 Mar 20, In northern Australia a devastating "mini-tornado" tore through the city of Townsville, ripping roofs off houses, snapping trees in half and injuring 13 people.
(AP, 3/20/12)
2012 Mar 21, Australian zoo officials said 4 rare white rhinoceroses have died in recent weeks at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales after displaying mysterious neurological problems such as stumbling.
(AP, 3/21/12)
2012 Mar 22, Australia police captured Malcolm Naden (38) just after midnight at a remote house near the town of Gloucester. The former slaughterhouse worker has been charged with the 2005 strangling death of a cousin and other violent crimes.
(AP, 3/22/12)
2012 Mar 23, Australian police said they have smashed a child porn ring and arrested 14 men, including fathers, after hundreds of thousands of images and videos were seized, some depicting toddlers. Police raided more than a dozen properties across the country over the past week after a tip-off by Interpol, which linked the men to a child exploitation network in Germany.
(AFP, 3/23/12)
2012 Mar 28, Fiji's military regime said it had seized control of national carrier Air Pacific from Australia's Qantas because it did not want foreigners to own or control Fijian airlines.
(AFP, 3/28/12)
2012 Mar 30, Australian artist Tim Storrier won the 91st Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney for his painting “The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch)." The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious art prizes.
(AFP, 3/30/12)
2012 Mar 31, Millions of people switched off their lights for Earth Hour in a global effort to raise awareness about climate change that will even be monitored from space. Newcomers to the Sydney-led initiative, now in its sixth year, included Libya, Iraq and the International Space Station, which will watch over the event as it rolls across the globe.
(AFP, 3/31/12)
2012 Mar 31, In southwestern Australia a shark attack killed Peter Kurmann (33) as he was diving from a boat off Stratham Beach.
(SSFC, 4/1/12, p.A4)
2012 Apr 3, An Australian court found Google Inc. guilty of breaching trade law by posting misleading or deceptive advertisements in a ruling that holds search engines responsible for their advertisers' content.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 13, Australia's Qantas launched the nation's first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel. Australia's tax on carbon emissions comes into force on July 1.
(AFP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 16, Australia said it will lift sanctions against Myanmar's president and more than 200 others who are currently under travel and financial bans, after a series of reforms in the past year.
(AFP, 4/16/12)
2012 Apr 17, Australia said it will bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013 after significant security gains over the past 18 months.
(AFP, 4/17/12)
2012 Apr 19, Australia vowed in an apparent U-turn to keep combat troops in Afghanistan through 2014 after PM Julia Gillard had indicated they would come home earlier than planned.
(AFP, 4/19/12)
2012 Apr 21, In Australia 2 Aboriginal teenagers were shot by police in central Sydney after mounting a crowded footpath in a stolen car and hitting a bystander.
(AFP, 4/21/12)
2012 Apr 27, In Australia Clarence Marae, the private secretary of Vanuatu’s PM Kilman, was arrested at Sydney airport while traveling with PM Kilman, en route to Israel for a state visit. The arrest was linked to an alleged international tax scam.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 4, Australian Police hunted for a gang of Sydney street robbers who threw feces at their victims to distract them before grabbing their money.
(AFP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 8, Australia's government said it will rein in defense spending and scale back promised increases in foreign aid as it tries to become the first major developed economy to balance its books after the global economic crisis.
(AP, 5/8/12)
2012 May 9, In Australia 27 protected Little Penguins were found mauled in the Phillip Island Nature Park in Victoria state, a popular tourist attraction. The penguins were believed killed by a dog or a pack of dogs, ironically at Cat Bay.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 10, Vanuatu expelled the 12-member police contingent from Australia in retaliation for the April 27 arrest of PM Kilman’s private secretary while in transit to Israel.
(Econ, 5/19/12, p.49)
2012 May 17, Japan and Australia signed an agreement in Tokyo that will allow them to share intelligence as the Asia-Pacific region adapts to the rising power of China.
(AFP, 5/17/12)
2012 May 23, The annual index by Business Review Weekly said Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart (58), has eclipsed Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton to become the world's wealthiest woman. The index put the mining tycoon's personal fortune at Aus$29.17 billion (US$28.48 billion).
(AFP, 5/23/12)
2012 May 25, A long-running joust to host a radio telescope, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), that would give mankind its farthest peek into the Universe, ended with a Solomon-like judgement to split the $2 billion project between two groups, Australia and New Zealand and South Africa.
(AFP, 5/25/12)(Econ, 6/2/12, p.94)(Econ, 1/7/17, p.38)
2012 May 31, In southern Australia a truck carrying around 400 sheep overturned on a highway overpass outside Melbourne, causing the animals to rain onto the freeway below resulting in "a large number" of dead and injured sheep.
(AP, 6/1/12)
2012 Jun 1, Australian researchers reported that eating a block of dark chocolate daily over 10 years has "significant" benefits for high-risk cardiac patients and could prevent heart attacks and strokes.
(AFP, 6/1/12)
2012 Jun 5, Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for a second consecutive month as Europe's economy weakens and growth in China moderates. It lowered the rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.5 percent.
(AP, 6/5/12)
2012 Jun 7, Australia said it will lift remaining sanctions against Myanmar and more than double its foreign aid to encourage democratic reforms.
(AFP, 6/7/12)
2012 Jun 7, Australian police said Captain Emad, an alleged people-smuggling kingpin who was granted a refugee visa, fled the country this week after a television expose, and they were powerless to stop him.
(AFP, 6/7/12)
2012 Jun 14, Australia announced a 2.3 million-square-km marine preserve expansion creating the world's largest network of marine reserves which will restrict fishing as well as oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food.
(AP, 6/14/12)
2012 Jun 15, In Australia documents were released revealing "horrific" child sex assaults and brutal initiation ceremonies in the Australian military, prompting PM Julia Gillard to signal a possible public inquiry. The report details allegations of sexual and other serious physical assaults against boys as young as 13 dating back to the 1950s.
(AFP, 6/15/12)
2012 Jun 18, Australia archaeologist Bryce Barker said he has found the oldest piece of rock art in Australia and one of the oldest in the world: an Aboriginal work created 28,000 years ago in the Northern Territory rock shelter known as Nawarla Gabarnmang.
(AP, 6/18/12)
2012 Jun 20, In Australia a Sydney brothel was reported to have received the green light for a multi-million-dollar expansion which will see it become the nation’s largest sex premises. Stiletto’s hourly rate of Aus$370 includes room, lady of choice and beverages.
(AFP, 6/20/12)
2012 Jun 20, In Thailand Michelle Elizabeth Smith (60), an Australian tourist, was stabbed and killed as 2 men tried to steal her bag on the resort island of Phuket. Two Thai men were arrested and pleaded guilty on June 26, saying they meant only to slash her pocketbook strap and never meant to stab her.
(AFP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 21, Indonesian and Australian navies launched efforts to rescue survivors after a Sri Lanka refugee boat carrying about 200 people, mostly men from Afghanistan, capsized on its way to Christmas Island. Scores were feared drowned in an apparent attempt to seek asylum. 110 people were rescued and about 90 remained missing. On Jan 28 an Indonesian court sentenced Javaid Mahmood (55), a Pakistani man, for attempting to smuggle the asylum seekers. He was the 2nd man found guilty in the case.
(AFP, 6/21/12)(AFP, 6/22/12)(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A2)
2012 Jun 27, Four people are believed to have died and 130 others were rescued after a crowded boat carrying asylum seekers to Australia capsized and sank between Christmas Island and the main Indonesian island of Java.
(AP, 6/27/12)
2012 Jul 1, Australia introduced a controversial carbon tax in a bid to tackle climate change, with PM Julia Gillard hailing the move amid opposition warnings it will stifle industry. A mining levy was also introduced.
(AFP, 7/1/12)(Econ, 7/7/12, p.18)
2012 Jul 2, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Australia as a political storm over people-smuggling raged.
(AFP, 7/2/12)
2012 Jul 3, Australia and Indonesia agreed to work more closely to crack down on people-smuggling, with visiting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying his people were victims of the trade as well.
(AFP, 7/3/12)
2012 Jul 10, A damning report on the Australian military detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial and other claims that Defence Minister Stephen Smith admitted would "shock" people. Smith released an entire 1,500-page document detailing 847 alleged incidents of sexual or other abuse dating back to the 1950s.
(AFP, 7/10/12)
2012 Jul 14, In western Australia a surfer was bitten in half in a savage shark attack near Wedge Island, north of Perth, the fifth such fatality in the region in less than a year.
(AFP, 7/14/12)
2012 Jul 18, An Australian woman born without arms and legs after her pregnant mother took the anti-morning sickness drug Thalidomide reached a multimillion dollar settlement with UK-based Distillers Company (Biochemicals) Ltd. — which sold the drug in Australia — and Diageo Scotland Ltd., the successor company to Distillers. Grunenthal, the German maker of the drug, refused to settle.
(AFP, 7/18/12)
2012 Jul 18, In Alaska 2 visitors from Australia were killed in a fiery small plane crash about 39 miles north of Fairbanks.
(Reuters, 7/19/12)
2012 Jul 19, In Australia a Chinese national (54) and an Australian man (47) were arrested when drugs worth Aus$128 million (US$133 million) were seized in Sydney. The bust disrupted an international syndicate dealing in methamphetamines.
(AFP, 7/20/12)
2012 Jul 28, Australian media reported that Sri Lankan navy officials have urged Australia to deport the growing number of boatpeople arriving from their country, saying it was the "best way" to deter people smugglers.
(AFP, 7/28/12)
2012 Jul 31, Australian police seized a record half a ton of methamphetamine and heroin worth up to A$500 million ($525 million) hidden in a shipment of terracotta pots from Thailand. Seven people, including four from Hong Kong, were arrested after a year-long investigation following a tip-off from US authorities.
(Reuters, 7/31/12)
2012 Aug 1, The United Arab Emirates said it has signed and Australia have signed a pact with Australia to work together on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, laying the groundwork for potential shipments of uranium to the Gulf nation.
(AP, 8/1/12)
2012 Aug 3, In Australia Tasmania Zoo owner Dick Warren said 9 birds, including an endangered swift parrot, had their heads smashed in or ripped off and more than 60 animals were missing after vandals went on the rampage.
(AFP, 8/4/12)
2012 Aug 13, Australia's PM Gillard announced a sharp reversal in her government's policy on asylum seekers, saying it will introduce legislation allowing their deportation to the poor Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru to face lengthy stays in detention camps.
(AFP, 8/13/12)
2012 Aug 15, Australia highest court upheld the world's toughest law on cigarette promotion, which prohibits tobacco companies from displaying their logos on cigarette packs. Starting in December, packs will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature graphic health warnings and images of cancer-riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 15, In Australia Charles Zentai (90) won a legal battle against extradition to Hungary, in a move which allows him to stay in Australia, where he has citizenship.
(AFP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 15, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that car importer Ateco Automotive ordered dealers to stop selling certain vehicles by China’s Great Wall Motor Co. and Chery Automobile after asbestos was found inside engine and exhaust gaskets.
(AP, 8/15/12)
2012 Aug 17, Australian police said they were investigating the theft of some 500,000 credit card numbers which resulted in Aus$25 million (US$26.2 million) worth of fraudulent transactions.
(AFP, 8/17/12)
2012 Aug 23, In Switzerland the Green Climate Fund, which aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries, selected as leaders Zaheer Fakir, head of international relations for South Africa's environment agency, and Ewen McDonald, deputy head of Australia's international development agency.
(AP, 8/23/12)
2012 Aug 29, An asylum-seeker boat heading for Australia disappeared off the Indonesian coast with 150 people aboard. Over the next 24 hours rescuers recovered 54 survivors, mostly males from Afghanistan.
(AFP, 8/30/12)(AFP, 8/31/12)
2012 Sep 11, Australia’s federal sustainability minister announced a ban on the Abel Tasman, a huge Dutch fishing vessel, from trawling in Australia’s waters. On Sep 19 the Labor government banned the ship for 2 years.
(Economist, 9/22/12, p.48)
2012 Sep 22, In Australia Jill Meagher (29) was raped and strangled as she walked home from a bar after an evening out with work colleagues in Melbourne. On Jun 19, 2013, sex offender Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder. He had been free on parole after previous convictions for raping five women.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2012 Oct 1, An Australian study found that the Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its coral cover since 1985.
(SFC, 10/2/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 2, Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced that Australia will spend over $104 million over the next four years to help reduce deaths from malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.
(SFC, 11/3/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 9, The Australian government said it has abandoned its 5-year-old pledge to mandate a filter blocking child pornography and other objectionable Internet content. Instead service providers have agreed to block a list of 1,400 websites.
(SFC, 11/9/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 14, Australia announced that it will host two US space surveillance systems as part of closer military ties agreed at a bilateral security summit.
(AP, 11/14/12)
2012 Nov 15, World animal health body OIE said that Australia had reported a case of a highly pathogenic bird flu virus at an egg farm in the New South Wales region.
(AP, 11/15/12)
2012 Dec 1, Australia’s new plain packaging law for cigarettes went into effect.
(Econ, 11/17/12, p.60)
2012 Dec 10, Australian radio announcers Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a Dec 4 prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate, broke a three-day silence to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha. Saldanha (46) was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Dec 7 after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.
(Reuters, 12/10/12)
2012 Australia’s Aborigines, numbering about 500,000, comprised about 2.5% of the country’s 23 million population.
(Econ, 1/14/12, p.42)
2012 In Australia 28 Tasmanian devils were relocated to Maria Island off Tasmania in an effort to save the carnivorous marsupial from extinction due to a deadly mouth cancer. By 2021 the population had grown to 100 and wiped out native penguins and other seabirds on the island.
(SSFC, 6/26/21, p.B8)
2013 Jan 3, Australian astronomers discovered a comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring). Scientists said it will pass about 50km from Mars on October 19, 2014. On Oct 19 the comet’s closest approach to Mars was about 140,000 km.
(Econ, 3/9/13, p.80)(Econ, 10/25/14, p.82)
2013 Jan 7, In Australia officials searched for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the island state of Tasmania. Around 100 residents remained unaccounted for, three days after the fires broke out.
(AP, 1/7/13)
2013 Jan 9, In Australia Richard Ammar Chichakli, a Syrian-born American, was arrested on charges that he conspired with Viktor Bout and others to try to buy aircraft from two companies in the United States.
(AP, 1/10/13)
2013 Jan 9, British health officials said a new strain of the winter vomiting disease norovirus has spread to France, New Zealand and Japan from Australia and is overtaking all others to become the dominant local strain.
(Reuters, 1/9/13)
2013 Jan 18, The British defence ministry said Britain and Australia will increase ties on defence issues including cyber security and equipment programs such as the BAE Systems-built Type 26 frigate.
(AP, 1/18/13)
2013 Jan 28, Australia reported 4 deaths as torrential rain over the weekend flooded the Queensland towns of Gladstone, Gympie and Ipswich.
(AP, 1/28/13)(AP, 1/29/13)
2013 Jan 31, Australia’s government received confirmation that the Shonan Maru No. 2, a support vessel for the Japanese whaling fleet, had entered Australia's exclusive economic zone near Macquarie Island in the Antarctic Ocean. The Australian embassy in Tokyo protested to the Japanese government.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013 Jan, Australia’s heat wave set a new reocrd of 40.3° C for the highest national average temperature.
(Econ, 1/12/13, p.34)
2013 Feb 7, An Australian government report said doping was widespread among professional and amateur athletes and demanded investigators name offenders to protect clean athletes' reputations.
(Reuters, 2/8/13)
2013 Feb 27, Australia's highest court narrowly rejected the case of two Muslim activists who argued they had a constitutional free-speech right to send offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
(AP, 2/27/13)
2013 Mar 14, In Australia Adam Giles was sworn as government head of the Northern Territory becoming the first Aboriginal leader of a provincial government.
(AP, 3/14/13)
2013 Mar 18, In Australia visiting Myanmar President Thein Sein welcomed closer ties with Australia as he asked for continued support through his country's transition to "peace, democracy and prosperity," a mission that he said "has no parallel in modern times."
(AP, 3/18/13)
2013 Mar 21, Australian PM Julia Gillard delivered a historic national apology in Parliament to the thousands of unwed mothers who were forced by government policies to give up their babies for adoption over several decades.
(AP, 3/21/13)
2013 Mar 25, A fishing boat carrying nearly 100 asylum seekers capsized off Australia's west coast. 2 people died and another 93 were rescued after the boat overturned north of Christmas Island.
(Reuters, 3/25/13)
2013 Apr 8, Australia and China agreed to make their currencies directly exchangeable in a deal that advances internationalization of the yuan and reduces costs for companies. PM Julia Gilliard said the Australian dollar will become only the third major currency to have direct convertibility with the yuan, after the US dollar and Japanese yen.
(AP, 4/8/13)
2013 Apr 9, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard capped a 6-day trip to China with the formation of a “strategic partnershnip," a commitment to hold annual talks between their leaders.
(Econ, 4/20/13, p.44)
2013 Apr 15, Australian and British researchers reported that the summer ice melt in parts of Antarctica is at its highest level in 1,000 years, adding new evidence of the impact of global warming on sensitive Antarctic glaciers and ice shelves.
(Reuters, 4/15/13)
2013 Apr 23, Australian police arrested a man they say is affiliated with international hacking collective Lulz Security on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website.
(AP, 4/23/13)
2013 Apr 23, Australia's competition regulator approved the takeover by Virgin Australia of budget rival Tiger Airways Australia.
(AP, 4/23/13)
2013 Apr 26, In Australia billionaire Clive Palmer announced the formation of the United Australia Party to back his move to run for prime minister.
(SSFC, 4/28/13, p.A5)
2013 Apr 27, In Indonesia an Australia woman (28) was attacked and raped while vacationing with her family near Bali’s popular Kuta beach. Her assailant also stole stole three iPads, two cellphones and $154 in cash.
(AP, 4/29/13)
2013 May 3, Australia announced a significant boost to its military air power, committing to buy up to new 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as it shifts its focus back to the Indo-Pacific as China and India beef up forces.
(Reuters, 5/3/13)
2013 May 8, Two Australian citizens from New South Wales state fell from the mid deck of the Carnival Spirit. They were discovered missing the next morning after the ship docked at Sydney's Circular Quay.
(AP, 5/9/13)
2013 May 9, It was reported that 460 Vietnamese men, women and children have fled to Australian shores so far this year.
(AP, 5/9/13)
2013 May 21, Microsoft Corp. said it is expanding its services for hosting and processing online data in Australia with the establishment of two new "cloud" computing data centers in the country.
(Reuters, 5/21/13)
2013 May 27, Australian Broadcasting Corp. television reported that the plans for the 630 million Australian dollar ($608 million) Australian Security Intelligence Organization building had been stolen through a cyberattack by Chinese hackers on a building contractor.
(AP, 5/28/13)
2013 May, In Vietnam Pham Trung Dung, an Australian of Vietnamese origin, was arrested when customs officials reportedly found the heroin in his luggage as he was boarding a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia. On June 27, 2014, Dung was sentenced to death for possessing more than 4 kg (8.8 pounds) of heroin.
(AP, 6/27/14)
2013 Jun 8, Australian authorities said a boat carrying up to 60 asylum seekers has capsized in the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island. 13 bodies were so far recovered with no survivors.
(SSFC, 6/9/13, p.A6)
2013 Jun 19, In Australia serial sex offender Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) was sentenced to life in prison for raping and murdering an Irish woman while he was free on parole after previous convictions for raping five women.
(AP, 6/19/13)
2013 Jun 26, Australian PM Julia Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader by her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, in a 57-45 vote of party lawmakers hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.
(AP, 6/26/13)
2013 Jun 27, Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister three years and three days after he was ousted from the same job in an internal government showdown.
(AP, 6/27/13)
2013 Jul 16, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd said a deeply unpopular carbon tax will be replaced by a less-severe emissions trading scheme a year ahead of schedule, in a bid to lower power bills for households as a tight national election looms.
(AP, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 16, In rough seas north of Christmas Island a boat carrying 150 people believed to be asylum seekers capsized, killing four people.
(AP, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 19, Australia's PM Kevin Rudd, with PNG PM Peter O’Neill at his side, warned that all refugees who arrive in the country by boat will be resettled on the island nation of Papua New Guinea, a policy shift that rights groups immediately condemned.
(AP, 7/19/13)(Econ, 7/27/13, p.34)
2013 Jul 22, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd succeeded in changing the ruling party's regulations to make his job safer.
(AP, 7/22/13)
2013 Jul 23, The US Navy offered Australia any help it wanted to retrieve four bombs, mistakenly dropped on July 16 inside the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef marine park.
(Reuters, 7/23/13)(SFC, 7/23/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd and the President of Nauru, Baron Waqa, signed a memorandum of understanding providing for asylum seekers arriving by boat to be sent to Nauru where they can opt for resettlement after their claims for refugee status are processed.
(Reuters, 8/3/13)
2013 Aug 9, Christopher Lane (22) of Melbourne, Australia, was shot once in the back as he was jogging in Duncan, Okla. He died before paramedics arrived. On Aug 20 prosecutors charged two boys, Chancey Allen Luna (16) and James Francis Edwards Jr. (15), with first-degree murder. A third boy, Michael Dewayne Jones (17), was charged as an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact. The boys said they were bored and decided to shoot someone.
(Yahoo, 8/21/13)(AP, 2/4/14)
2013 Aug 22, The UN said Australia’s indefinite detention of 46 recognized refugees amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Many have been held as security threats for over two years.
(SFC, 8/23/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 7, Australia's conservative opposition swept to power, ending six years of Labor Party rule and winning over a disenchanted public by promising to end a hated tax on carbon emissions, boost a flagging economy and bring about political stability after years of Labor infighting. Opposition leader Tony Abbott (55) will become PM in three months.
(AP, 9/7/13)
2013 Sep 13, Australian man Tom Denniss (52) completed a grueling run that looped the world, having done the equivalent of a marathon a day for more than 20 months in what he hopes is a record. Denniss began his endurance test on December 31, 2011 at the Sydney Opera House and since then has travelled more than 26,000 km (16,200 miles) over five continents.
(AFP, 9/13/13)
2013 Oct 10, More than 700 Australian police swooped on the Hells Angels in a series of heavily-armed raids, seizing guns, drugs and cash, as authorities intensify a crackdown on biker gangs linked to organized crime.
(AFP, 10/10/13)
2013 Oct 14, Australia’s Rio Tinto said the annual sale of its rare pink-hued diamonds attracted unprecedented interest with at least two of the stones fetching record prices of over $2 million.
(AFP, 10/14/13)
2013 Oct 15, Mining magnate Andrew Forrest pledged to give 65 million Australian dollars ($62 million) to university education in his home state in one of Australia's largest philanthropic donations.
(AP, 10/15/13)
2013 Oct 18, In Australia nearly 100 wildfires raged across New South Wales state, killing one person, destroying dozens of houses and forcing hundreds of evacuations as the nation's annual fire season got off to an unusually early start.
(AP, 10/18/13)
2013 Oct 15, An Australian naval team in the Indian Ocean captured nine suspected pirates sought after attacks on a supertanker 500 miles off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 10/20/13)
2013 Oct 22, The Australian Capital Territory became the first jurisdiction in Australia to legalize same-sex marriage with a bill passing the ACT parliament by just one vote.
(Reuters, 10/22/13)
2013 Oct 23, Australian investigators said a military training exercise ignited the largest of the wildfires that have ravaged its most populous state over the past week.
(AP, 10/23/13)
2013 Oct 24, In Australia a plane dousing wildfires in bushland south of Australia's biggest city, Sydney, crashed into a national park, killing the pilot and sparking a new fire to add to 55 still burning across the state of New South Wales.
(Reuters, 10/24/13)
2013 Nov 2, Jacqui Park, an Australian media rights activist, accused Sri Lankan officials of a "witch-hunt" against local journalists as she arrived back in Sydney after being detained in Colombo for two days.
(AFP, 11/2/13)
2013 Nov 1, In Tasmania int’l. negotiations ended after China, Russia and Ukraine scuttled plans to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary in Antarctica. The sanctuary plans were led by the Antarctic Ocean Alliance which campaigns for protecting the Antarctic seas. For the sanctuary proposals to pass, they needed backing from all 200 delegates from 25 member countries, many of which have conflicting interests.
(Reuters, 11/1/13)(SFC, 11/2/13, p.A2)
2013 Nov 3, Hackers claiming links to international activist group Anonymous (Anonymous Indonesia and Anonymous Philippines) defaced dozens of websites belonging to Australian businesses and Philippine government agencies.
(Reuters, 11/3/13)
2013 Nov 13, Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd announced an end to his chequered political career, quitting politics two months after being ousted from office by Tony Abbott.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 15, Toronto police said a global investigation into a Canadian child porn website has led to the arrest of 341 people including teachers, doctors and police officers, and the rescue of 386 sexually abused children. Australian police said they had arrested 65 of the total.
(AFP, 11/15/13)
2013 Nov 21, Indonesia's military halted training with Australia as a decision to suspend cooperation due to spying claims took effect, while angry demonstrators in Jakarta declared they were "ready for war" with Canberra.
(AFP, 11/21/13)
2013 Nov 23, In Australia a surfer was fatally mauled by a shark on the west coast near Gracetown.
(SSFC, 11/24/13, p.A4)
2013 Nov 27, In Australia Simon Gittany was found guilty of throwing his Canadian girlfriend, former ballerina Lisa Harnum, off the balcony of their high-rise Sydney apartment.
(AFP, 11/27/13)
2013 Nov 30, In Australia a shark attack killed Zach Young (19) as he body boarded near the northern New South Wales city of Coffs Harbor in the nation's second deadly attack this month.
(AP, 11/30/13)
2013 Dec 1, Two Australian scientists and their pilot were injured when their helicopter made an emergency landing in Antarctica, leaving them stranded overnight on the ice.
(Reuters, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 2, In Australia a class action over birth defects linked to the morning sickness drug thalidomide was settled in a court, with the British distributor agreeing to pay victims Aus$89 million (US$81 million).
(AFP, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 3, Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it has completed building the hull of the world's largest floating facility, which has been constructed to process natural gas off the coast of western Australia.
(AP, 12/3/13)
2013 Dec 5, Australia and Indonesia announced that they would set up a hotline as part of efforts to repair relations following media reports last month that Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials.
(Reuters, 12/5/13)
2013 Dec 7, Australia's first gay marriages were celebrated in the national capital Canberra, despite the prospect of a High Court decision ruling against the unions later this week.
(AFP, 12/7/13)
2013 Dec 12, Australia's top court struck down gay marriage in the nation's capital, ruling that parliament must decide on same-sex unions.
(AFP, 12/12/13)
2013 Dec 16, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said Australian combat troops have completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking the end of the nation's longest war which left 40 of its soldiers dead.
(AFP, 12/16/13)
2013 Dec 22, Australia announced an aerial Customs and Border Protection mission to the Southern Ocean as a showdown looms between Japan's whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd activists, saying it would send a message to both sides that the world was watching.
(AFP, 12/22/13)
2013 Dec 28, Australian media reported that Jacqueline Zwambila, Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia, has asked for political asylum just days before her term ends saying she fears for her safety at home.
(Reuters, 12/28/13)
2013 Dec 31, A cyclone ripped across northwest Australia, closing ports and threatening mining operations in the sparsely populated Pilbara region.
(Reuters, 12/31/13)
2014 Jan 2, A Chinese helicopter rescued all 52 passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy Russian research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve after weather conditions finally cleared enough for the operation. The passengers were all transported to an Australian icebreaker in the area.
(AP, 1/2/14)
2014 Jan 9, In northwest Australia the temperature in the Pilbara region reached 122 degrees.
(SFC, 1/10/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 11, In Australia US stage hypnotist Scott Lewis plunged to his death from the balcony of a Sydney apartment. Lewis was in Sydney performing his hypnosis act along with six other performers in the show "The illusionists 2.0," which opened at the Sydney Opera House last week.
(AP, 1/11/14)
2014 Jan 13, Australian officials said one man died a day earlier and four other people were missing after a fast-moving wildfire destroyed at least 49 homes in Perth. Firefighters continued to fight the blaze.
(AFP, 1/13/14)(SFC, 1/14/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 15, Australian officials said lightning strikes ignited more than 250 fires across the southeast. Firefighters battled to put out the flames as the country sweltered under a heatwave.
(AFP, 1/15/14)
2014 Jan 16, British police working alongside counterparts in the Philippines and Australia said they had dismantled a paedophile ring that streamed live sexual abuse of Filipino children as young as six over the Internet, with victims' parents involved in some cases.
(AFP, 1/16/14)
2014 Jan 17, Indonesia said that it would increase naval patrols after territorial violations by Australia as it tried to turn back asylum seekers. The Australian government apologised unreservedly to Jakarta after its navy "inadvertently" violated Indonesian waters during border security operations.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 23, Australian police revealed they had cracked a major global money-laundering ring with operatives in more than 20 countries and funds syphoned off to groups reported to include Hezbollah.
(AFP, 1/23/14)
2014 Jan 26, In northern Australia a crocodile was suspected to have taken a boy (12) after attacking his friend as they swam in a water hole in at Mudginberri Billabong in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 26, A shark was shot and killed in Western Australian under a new strategy to protect swimmers.
(Econ, 2/1/14, p.35)
2014 Jan 31, In Australia a government agency approved a plan to dump sediment within the area of the Great Barrier Marine Park in an expansion project of the Abbot Point coal port in northern Queensland.
(SFC, 2/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 3, St. Louis-based Post Holdings Inc. said it is buying the PowerBar and Musashi brands from Nestle SA, further diversifying its business by expanding into the active nutrition category. Musashi is a leading sports nutrition brand in Australia.
(AP, 2/3/14)
2014 Feb 16, In North Korea John Short (75), an Australian missionary, was questioned and then arrested in his Pyongyang hotel, a day after he arrived there. He has lived in Hong Kong for 50 years and has been arrested previously in China for evangelizing.
(AP, 2/20/14)
2014 Feb 23, In Sidney, Australia, finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies (G-20) agreed to implement policies that will boost world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the coming five years.
(AP, 2/23/14)
2014 Mar 3, The United Nations' highest court banned Australia from making any use of documents it seized from a lawyer working for East Timor in an arbitration case over a multibillion-dollar oil and gas deal between the two nations.
(AP, 3/3/14)
2014 Mar 19, Australia’s Courier Mail reported that Canar Temel (22), a soldier who went AWOL from his Brisbane unit two years ago, has turned up dead after fighting alongside ISIL rebels in Syria.
(SSFC, 3/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Mar 22, In eastern Australia 5 people were killed after a light plane used for skydiving crashed at an airfield in Queensland.
(AFP, 3/22/14)
2014 Mar 28, Australian officials moved the search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, that disappeared March 8, 1,100 km (680 miles) to the northeast following a new analysis of radar data, and planes quickly found multiple objects in the new zone.
(AP, 3/28/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Australia a large shark killed Christine Armstrong (63) near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim off a popular east coast beach near the village of Tathra.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 6, The Australian navy ship Ocean Shield picked up two separate signals late last night and early today in seas far off the west Australian coast. Confirmation that the signals belong to Malaysia’s Flight 370's black boxes could take days.
(AP, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 7, Japan and Australia clinched a basic trade deal to cut import tariffs. US and Japanese officials stepped up efforts to reach a parallel agreement that would re-energize stalled talks on a broader regional pact.
(Reuters, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 11, Australian PM Tony Abbott said search and rescue officials are confident they know the approximate position of the black box recorders from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, missing since March 8.
(Reuters, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 14, Australian search crews sent a robotic submarine deep into the Indian Ocean for the first time to begin scouring the seabed for the missing Malaysian Flight MH370 after no signals from its black boxes were detected for six days. The submarine aborted its first mission after only six hours, surfacing with no new clues when it exceeded its maximum depth along the floor of the Indian Ocean.
(AP, 4/14/14)(AP, 4/15/14)
2014 May 31, Australia said that it has banned Thailand's coup leaders from visiting and downgraded their military ties.
(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 31, Some flights between Australia and southeast Asia and all domestic flights operating out of Darwin airport in the country’s north were canceled after the eruption a day earlier of Sangeang Api in Indonesia’s south produced a large cloud of ash.
(Reuters, 5/31/14)
2014 May, Scientists reported that a zircon crystal discovered in Western Australia in 2010 has been determined to be 4.374 billion years old, making it the oldest rock ever discovered on Earth.
(SSFC, 1/4/15, p.C12)
2014 Jun 5, Kenyan gunmen shot and killed an Australian media executive Carey Eaton, a co-founder of the online marketplace One Africa Media. This was the second such attack on an Australian citizen in the past year in the crime-ridden capital Nairobi.
(AFP, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 8, Australian police found human remains inside a large crocodile that is believed to have snatched a man from a boat in a popular national park. Police found the remains inside a 4.7-meter (15-foot, 5-inch) saltwater crocodile that park rangers shot while searching for a 62-year-old man who was attacked a day earlier in Kakadu National Park.
(AP, 6/8/14)
2014 Jun 11, Japanese and Australian ministers meeting in Tokyo agreed to jointly develop stealth submarine technology. They agreed to begin the research next year.
(AP, 6/11/14)
2014 Jun 29, Australia seized 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers near Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
(Econ, 7/26/14, p.36)
2014 Jun 30, Australia’s Catholic church said Bishop Max Davis has stepped down after being accused of sexually abusing a teenage student decades ago. Davis denied the charges.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 5, In Australia six Taiwanese men were arrested for importing Aus$42 million ($39 million) worth of methamphetamine into Australia. They faced life sentences.
(AFP, 7/6/14)
2014 Jul 7, Australia's government confirmed that it had handed over a boatload of asylum seekers to Sri Lankan authorities in a transfer at sea, drawing outrage from human rights groups who fear those on board could be persecuted in their home country.
(AP, 7/7/14)
2014 Jul 8, In Australia Japan's PM Shinzo Abe met with Australian PM Tony Abbott to sign agreements bolstering defense and trade ties between the countries.
(AP, 7/8/14)
2014 Jul 15, In Australia a class-action settlement against electricity provider SP AusNet awarded survivors of a 2009 wildfire nearly 500 million Australian dollars, the largest such compensation in the nation's history. The wildfire killed 119 people and was the biggest in a series of blazes that tore through the southern Australian state of Victoria.
(AP, 7/15/14)
2014 Jul 17, Australia's government repealed a much-maligned carbon tax on the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters, ending years of contention over a measure that became political poison for the lawmakers who imposed it.
(AP, 7/17/14)
2014 Jul 17, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with 298 people on board was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Officials strongly suspected the Boeing 777 was downed by a missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow. More than half of the dead passengers, 189 people, were Dutch. Twenty-nine were Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino, one Canadian, one New Zealand and 4 as yet unidentified. All 15 crew were Malaysian.
(Reuters, 7/18/14)
2014 Jul 20, An Int’l. AIDS opened in Melbourne, Australia, with a tribute to delegates killed in the July 17 shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine.
(SFC, 7/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 29, Australian media reported that arrest warrants have been issued for a pair of Australian citizens, Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar, believed to be fighting in Syria, after images emerged of the two holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers.
(Reuters, 7/29/14)
2014 Aug 2, Australia officials said some 157 asylum-seekers, thought to be mostly ethnic Tamils from Sri Lanka and detained at sea for weeks, have been sent to the island of Nauru after rejecting a return to India.
(AFP, 8/2/14)
2014 Aug 17, Australia said it will offer to resettle some 4,400 people fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 8/17/14)
2014 Aug 27, Australia’s intelligence chief David Irvine said 15 Australians, including two suicide bombers, are believed to have died fighting in Syria and Iraq and warned that espionage and foreign intervention threats were increasing.
(AFP, 8/27/14)
2014 Aug 28, Australia and Indonesia signed a new security agreement to mend a relationship badly damaged by allegations last year that Australia was listening to the telephone conversations of Pres. Susilo Bambang.
(AP, 8/28/14)
2014 Aug 31, PM Tony Abbott said Australia will drop military equipment and aid to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in northern Iraq in response to a request from the United States.
(Reuters, 8/31/14)
2014 Sep 1, Australia ratcheted up sanctions against Russia in line with the United States and EU in response to Russian soldiers openly violating Ukraine sovereignty.
(AP, 9/1/14)
2014 Sep 3, Australia banned uranium sales to Russia over its actions in Ukraine while announcing it will set up an embassy in Kiev and may offer military assistance.
(AFP, 9/3/14)
2014 Sep 5, Australian PM Tony Abbott and India’s PM Narendra Modi signed a long-awaited uranium nuclear. Modi also announced $20 million in funding for further India-Australian scientific projects.
(AFP, 9/5/14)
2014 Sep 10, Australian police arrested two men for allegedly preparing to fight in Syria, recruiting jihadists and raising money for an al-Qaida offshoot group.
(AP, 9/10/14)
2014 Sep 12, The Australian government raised its terrorism threat level to the second-highest warning in response to the domestic threat posed by Islamic State movement supporters.
(AP, 9/14/14)
2014 Sep 18, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said militants connected with radical group Islamic State were planning to behead a member of the public, after hundreds of police raided homes in a sweeping counter-terrorism operation.
(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 Sep 20, In Australia finance chiefs from G20 nations held talks, confident they can "change the destiny of the global economy" despite rising world political tensions and mounting fears of financial instability.
(AP, 9/20/14)
2014 Sep 21, Australians rallied for climate action, from protesters chanting "Green energy" outside G20 talks to forming a human chain message in Sydney as part of an international day of action.
(AFP, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 21, In Australia finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies said they are close to reaching their goal of boosting world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the next five years, and will focus on infrastructure investment to help reach the target.
(AP, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 23, In Australia a man (18) was shot dead in Melbourne and two counterterrorism police were stabbed in a confrontation.
(AP, 9/23/14)
2014 Sep 26, Australia and Cambodia signed an agreement for asylum-seekers, who are refused residency in Australia and currently held in Nauru, to instead be resettled to Cambodia criticized for its deteriorating human rights record.
(AP, 9/26/14)(Econ, 10/4/14, p.48)
2014 Oct 1, Australia’s Parliament passed a raft of counterterrorism laws that extend secret service powers despite concerns about its impact on press freedom.
(SFC, 10/2/14, p.A2)
2014 Oct 2, Australia authorized the deployment of special forces to advise and assist Iraqi forces alongside British, Canadian and US advisers already on the ground.
(AFP, 10/3/14)
2014 Oct 3, Australia’s government said it will investigate sexual abuse claims at its refugee detention center on Nauru, while removing 10 aid workers from the South Pacific island following reports of coaching detainees to commit self-harm protests.
(Reuters, 10/3/14)
2014 Oct 15, Australian literature-lovers cheered after Richard Flanagan won the prestigious Booker Prize with a visceral story of wartime brutality and its aftermath. Flanagan drew on his father's experiences as a World War II prisoner of the Japanese for "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," which centers on the Burma Death Railway.
(AP, 10/15/14)
2014 Oct 19, Australia's foreign minister said she had reached a deal with Baghdad for the deployment of about 200 special forces to assist Iraqi troops in their fight against jihadists.
(AFP, 10/19/14)
2014 Oct 21, Former Australian PM Gough Whitlam (98) died at a nursing home in Sydney. His government (1972-1975) was credited with instituting lasting social reforms during a short tenure that ended in a bitter constitutional crisis.
(AP, 10/21/14)(Econ, 11/1/14, p.86)
2014 Oct 28, It was reported that Australia is suspending entry visas for people from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa in an attempt to keep out the disease.
(AP, 10/28/14)
2014 Oct 29, Australian scientists said they have successfully tested a vaccine against chlamydia in wild koalas, in what they believe is a breakthrough in combating the sexually-transmitted disease ravaging the native marsupial.
(AFP, 10/29/14)
2014 Oct 31, In Australia the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) wound up a 10-day meeting in Hobart without the consensus needed for a deal to conserve and manage the marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean. China and Russia thwarted an international attempt to create the world’s largest ocean sanctuary in Antarctica.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)
2014 Nov 13, In Australia more than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Bondi Beach, mocking the government's reluctance to put climate change on the agenda of a G20 summit this weekend.
(Reuters, 11/13/14)
2014 Nov 15, In Australia the G20 summit opened in Brisbane. Western leaders warned Vladimir Putin that he risked more economic sanctions if he failed to end Russian backing for separatist rebels in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 16, In Australia leaders from the G20 group of nations agreed to boost flagging global growth, tackle climate change and crack down on tax avoidance. Leaders completed a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years. Russian President Vladimir Putin left summit in Brisbane early as US President Barack Obama accused Russia of invading Ukraine and Britain warned of a possible "frozen conflict" in Europe.
(Reuters, 11/16/14)(SFC, 11/17/14, p.A6)
2014 Nov 17, Australia and China signed a preliminary free-trade deal that would give Australia's service industry unsurpassed access to the Chinese market and Australian agriculture advantages over competitors from the United States, Canada and the European Union.
(AP, 11/17/14)
2014 Dec 4, Australia for the first time exercised sweeping new security powers allowing it to block citizens from traveling to overseas conflict zones such as those in Iraq and Syria, where dozens of Australians have joined Islamist militant groups.
(Reuters, 12/4/14)
2014 Dec 6, Australian court documents revealed that a boy (18) raped his best buddy’s sixty-two year old mom at knife point after she invited him into her home in Sydney. The boy pleaded guilty last week to aggravated sexual assault.
(http://tinyurl.com/n7bvb3g)
2014 Dec 15, In Australia at least five hostages were released or escaped after being held in Sidney’s Martin Place Lindt Chocolate Cafe by Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh. Heavily armed officers stormed the cafe after a 16 hour stand-off. Monis and 2 hostages of 17 were left dead. Monis shot manager Tori Johnson (34) in the back of the head. An inquest revealed that hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by police bullet fragments.
(Reuters, 12/15/14)(SSFC, 12/21/14, p.A10)(SFC, 1/30/15, p.A2)
2014 Dec 19, In northern Australia the bodies of 8 children, aged 2-14 years, and a wounded woman, Mersane Warria (37), were discovered in a home in Cairns, Queensland state. On Dec 21 Warria was charged with eight counts of murder. She was the mother of seven of them; the eighth was her niece.
(AP, 12/19/14)(AP, 12/21/14)
2014 Dec 26, Syrian forces killed Mohammed al-Ghazzawi, a former Sidney resident and the latest Australian jihadist to be killed fighting for the Islamic State.
(SSFC, 1/4/15, p.A4)
2014 Iain McCalman authored “The Reef: A Passionate History: the Great Barrier Reef from Captain Cook to Climate Change."
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.77)
(AP, 6/23/14)
2014 In Australia scientists began using a solution made of salts from cattle bile to kill the crown-of-thorns starfish, which have been chomping their way through the Great Barrier Reef.
(Econ., 4/11/15, p.38)
2014 Malka Leifer (48) was put under house arrest in Israel and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn’t fit to stand trial. In 2008, as allegations of sexual abuse surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer, a trusted teacher and school principal in an insular religious community in Australia, left her position at the school suddenly and returned to Israel.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2015 Jan 3, In Australia thousands of people fled their homes as wildfires raged across the nation's south, with firefighters struggling to contain the blazes fanned by strong winds.
(AP, 1/3/15)
2015 Jan 4, Australian PM Tony Abbott made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, meeting with top officials to discuss ways his country can aid Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 5, Southern Australia. State Premier Jay Weatherill said that hundreds of fire fighters have taken advantage of milder conditions in recent days to attempt to contain the fire which has razed 12,500 hectares (31,000 acres) of countryside in hills northwest of Adelaide.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 26, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott conferred an Australian knighthood on Prince Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.34)
2015 Jan 29, Australian best-selling author Colleen McCullough (b.1937) died on Norfolk Island after a long illness. Her 25 novels included "The Thorn Birds" (1977), which sold 30 million copies worldwide.
(AP, 1/29/15)
2015 Feb 1, Egypt deported Al-Jazeera reporter Peter Greste to his native Australia after holding him for more than 400 days despite global condemnation. Colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and an Egyptian producer, Baher Mohamed, remained in prison.
(AFP, 2/1/15)
2015 Feb 9, In Australia a Japanese citizen died after a shark tore off his legs while he was surfing off the coast of New South Wales.
(SFC, 2/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Feb 10, In Australia two men were arrested for planning to launch an imminent terrorist attack. Police seized a homemade flag associated with the Islamic State, a machete and a hunting knife in a counterterrorism raid.
(AP, 2/11/15)
2015 Feb 20, In Australia two powerful cyclones pounded the Northern Territory and Queensland, leaving a trail of destruction with houses ripped apart, trees uprooted and electricity cut to thousands of people. Authorities said there were no fatalities.
(AFP, 2/20/15)
2015 Mar 3, Australia and Switzerland signed an accord in Canberra aimed at cracking down on tax evaders.
(AP, 3/3/15)
2015 Mar 11, In Iraq Australian suicide bomber Jake Bilardi (18), also known as Jihadi Jake, died in a suicide bomb attack west of Baghdad.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Bilardi)(AP, 10/31/17)
2015 Mar 19, Australia said it would introduce legislation next week to scrap the parliament of Norfolk Island, which was effectively bankrupt, and temporarily replace it by an advisory council before local government elections in 2016.
(AFP, 3/19/15)
2015 Mar 29, Australia announced that it would join negotiations to establish a Chinese-led Asian regional bank that has emerged as a potential challenge to US influence.
(SFC, 3/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 31, In Australia 55 dead greyhounds were found dumped and spent rifle cartridges seen nearby in near Bundaberg, Queensland state. The grisly discovery came on the heels of a live baiting scandal rocking the dog racing industry.
(AFP, 4/1/15)
2015 Apr 4, In Australia thousands of anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters clashed in angry rallies around the country.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 9, Australia reported that second case of the so-called Tropical Race 4 strain of Panama disease affecting banana plants has been confirmed, dashing hopes that a recently confirmed outbreak would be isolated and threatening the country's A$550 million ($423 million) sector.
(Reuters, 4/9/15)
2015 Apr 13, In Australia a man (47) from Warwick, Queensland, was charged with 145 sex offences against at least 28 children, including rape, after allegedly using social media to groom them.
(AFP, 4/13/15)
2015 Apr 18, Hundreds of Australian police arrested five teens (18-19) planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack next week at an event to mark the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli during World War One.
(Reuters, 4/18/15)
2015 Apr 20, A fierce storm lashed southeast Australia destroying homes, stranding dozens of people in swirling floodwaters. In Dungog three people were found dead and at least one home was swept away.
(AP, 4/21/15)
2015 Apr 22, In Australia a cyclonic storm lashing the east coast for a third day was declared a catastrophe after destroying homes, cutting power to more than 200,000 homes and causing millions of dollars of damage in Sydney and other cities. The confirmed death toll from the storm reached 4.
(Reuters, 4/22/15)
2015 May 2, Australian police said flash floods killed 5 people in south-east Queensland when their cars were swept away following a rain storm on the east coast.
(Reuters, 5/2/15)
2015 May 8, An Australian teen (17) was arrested in a joint federal-state police counterterrorism operation at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Greenvale where three explosive devices were found.
(AP, 5/9/15)
2015 May 13, Bob Randall (81), Aborigine teacher and campaigner, died. He was a victim of the Australian policy (1910-1970) to place half-castes in institutions to civilize and Christianize them.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.90)
2015 May 20, Cambodia accepted the first four people under an agreement it made with Australia nine months ago to take in asylum-seekers rejected for residency there.
(AP, 5/21/15)
2015 May, Australia’s government announced it would increase penalties for illegal purchases to rigorously enforce rules under which foreigners are only allowed to buy new dwellings, and not existing residential property.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Jun 5, Australian businessman Alan Bond (b.1938) died in Perth.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.62)
2015 Jun 14, Australian PM Tony Abbott refused again to deny allegations an official paid thousands of dollars to turn back a boatload of asylum-seekers, despite calls from Indonesia for answers.
(AFP, 6/14/15)
2015 Jun 18, Australia’s government under PM Tony Abbott published a white paper outlining plans for developing northern Australia over the next twenty years.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.33)
2015 Jun 23, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation cited people close to the families of Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar as saying the pair died in fighting in Mosul in the past week. They were notorious for being pictured holding severed heads.
(AFP, 6/23/15)
2015 Jul 8, Australia extradited Dragan Vasiljkovic, also known as Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden, to Croatia to face war crimes charges. He was a former Serb paramilitary commander during the 1991-1995 Balkan wars.
(AP, 7/8/15)
2015 Jul 26, Australian nurse Adam Brookman (39) was charged with terrorism offences for allegedly supporting the Islamic State group in Syria. He had voluntarily returned home from the war-torn country on July 24. Brookman told Fairfax Media in an interview in the past week he carried out humanitarian work in Syria and was forced to join the jihadist group after being injured and sent to IS-controlled territory.
(AFP, 7/26/15)
2015 Jul 27, Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, launched in 2013, heard that the local Jehovah's Witnesses Church failed to report to police more than 1,000 cases of child sexual abuse going back more than 60 years.
(Reuters, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 29, In Australia Leonard John Warwick (68) was arrested for a 1980-1984 series of bombings and shootings in Sydney left four people dead. Warwick, a former firefighter, had an extended dispute in the Family Court with his estranged wife over the custody of their infant daughter in the early 1980s. In 2020 Warwick was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 7/29/15)(SFC, 9/4/20, p.A2)
2015 Jul, Papua New Guinea’s PM Peter O’Neill announced a ban on foreign, mostly Australian, consultants. A ban on vegetable imports from Australia soon followed.
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.39)
2015 Aug 2, Bronwyn Bishop, the speaker of Australia's House of Representatives, resigned following weeks of accusations that she used taxpayer money to pay for extravagant and unnecessary travel. The travel row erupted with reports on July 15th that Mrs. Bishop had spent A$5,227 ($3,800) last November chartering a helicopter to fly from Melbourne to Geelong, two cities little more than an hour’s car ride apart.
(http://tinyurl.com/kphj7bs)(AP, 8/2/15)
2015 Aug 11, Australian lawmakers in PM Tony Abbott's conservative government agreed on a target of curbing carbon gas emissions to at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
(AP, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 11, Australian PM Tony Abbott's conservative coalition government blocked its members from voting in favor of gay marriage, a politically risky move that effectively rules out a marriage equality bill passing under his government.
(Reuters, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 13, Australia’s Sidney Morning Herald reported that the Islamic State has hacked the personal information of Defense Force employees and their relatives, New South Wales health employees and several other public servants. It said the IS has bragged of gathering the names of some 1,400 people, most of whom are supposedly US military personnel.
(SSFC, 8/16/15, p.A4)
2015 Sep 6, PM Tony Abbott said Australia will accept more refugees from camps bordering Syria and Iraq and “is open" to providing more financial assistance.
(Reuters, 9/6/15)
2015 Sep 7, Australia's PM Tony Abbott said that his country will resettle a "significant" number of refugees from Syria this year, while the opposition called for an additional 10,000 refugee places to help the world cope with a humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 9/7/15)
2015 Sep 9, Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said his country would take an additional 12,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria and would join in an air campaign against the Islamic State.
(SFC, 9/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Sep 14, Australia will have its fifth prime minister in eight years after the ruling Liberal Party voted out Tony Abbott in favor of longtime rival Malcolm Turnbull, following months of infighting and crumbling voter support. Turnbull made a fortune in the 1990s by investing in OzMail, an Australian internet-service provider.
(Reuters, 9/14/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.57)
2015 Sep 15, In Australia multi-millionaire former banker Malcolm Turnbull (60) was sworn in as the nation’s 29th prime minister and the fourth in just over two years.
(AFP, 9/15/15)(Econ, 9/19/15, p.35)
2015 Sep 20, Australia's new PM Malcom Turnbull announced sweeping changes to his first Cabinet and promoted more women, including Australia's first female defense minister.
(AP, 9/20/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Australia an Iran-born teenager (15) of Iraqi-Kurdish background shot a New South Wales police finance worker with a handgun at close range as the man left work in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The teen then fired at responding officers, who shot and killed him. Farhad Jabar (15) was shot dead by police moments after he killed Curtis Cheng (58) with a .38 Smith & Wesson as the accountant walked from the New South Wales state police headquarters in central Sydney after work. In 2018 Talal Alameddine (25), the man who provided the revolver used to kill the state police employee, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 5/18/18)
2015 Oct 5, Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal on creating the world's largest free trade area (TPP), delivering President Barack Obama a major policy triumph. The Trans-Pacific Partnership included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Australia four people were arrested over the terror-linked murder of a police employee after coordinated raids by more than 200 officers on properties across Sydney.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Australia hundreds of protesters faced off with left-wing opponents in a standoff over plans to build a mosque in the rural town of Bendigo, Victoria state.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 17, Australia announced plans to legalize the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, saying those suffering debilitating illnesses deserved access to the most effective treatments.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 28, Australia’s Troy Resources Limited said it plans to open a large gold mine in upcoming weeks at the mine in the Puruni region in western Guyana.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Nov 2, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Queen Elizabeth II had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 18, Australian authorities said at least 4 people have died in bushfires raging out of control in parts of Western Australia.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 25, Australian officials said at least 2 people have been killed and several others injured by huge wildfires that also destroyed homes near the southern city of Adelaide and continue to burn out of control.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 26, Sixteen migrants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh and their Indonesian skipper were found stranded in Indonesia's part of Timor Island. The next day Indonesia said Australian officials had destroyed a boat carrying asylum seekers and then pushed them back to sea in another vessel.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 29, Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd warned Japan against resuming "research" whaling in the Antarctic and called on the Australian government to intervene.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Dec 3, Australia's parliament passed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences or found to have fought with banned groups overseas, despite concerns about deporting jihadists.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 5, A ship carrying 25 tons of radioactive waste arrived back in Australia, met by activists who warned against the vast nation becoming a nuclear dumping ground. Australia sent spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing in the 1990s and early 2000s over four shipments, and it has now been returned for long-term storage.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 9, Former Australian PM Tony Abbott defended his comments suggesting that Western culture is superior to that of Islam, and called for US-led assistance in defeating the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Australia more than 100 homes burned down along parts of Victoria state's picturesque Great Ocean Road in bushfires and the situation continued to remain dangerous.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 27, In western Australia a train was carrying around 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) of the sulfuric acid when it derailed near the small town of Julia Creek in Queensland state.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2016 Jan 10, Australian authorities said 2 people have died and more than a hundred homes have been destroyed in a huge bushfire, as firefighters battled to tame the out-of-control blaze in Western Australia state.
(AFP, 1/10/16)
2016 Jan, The feral cat population of Australia, estimated at 4-20 million, was believed to eat as many as 75 million animals a day.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.42)
2016 Feb 1, In Australia 16 young kangaroos were found killed after being deliberately run down by a driver. Another had to be euthanized because of its injuries.
(AP, 2/1/16)
2016 Feb 2, The Australian government changed the rules to make politics more family-friendly allowing lawmakers to now breastfeed in the Parliament. None of the nursing mothers appeared keen to take up the opportunity.
(AP, 2/2/16)
2016 Feb 3, Australia's High Court threw out a challenge to the country’s right to deport detained asylum seekers to the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru.
(Reuters, 2/3/16)
2016 Feb 10, Australian lawmakers committed to legalize the growing of marijuana for medical use within a part of the world renowned for zero-tolerance and harsh penalties for illegal drugs.
(AP, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 15, Australian officials said law enforcement agencies have discovered 1.26 billion Australian dollars ($900 million) worth of methylamphetamine hidden in imported boxes of silicon bra inserts and art supplies in the country's largest haul of the illicit drug in its liquid form. Four Hong Kong passport holders were arrested in Sydney last month over the import from China of 720 liters (190 gallons) of the drug.
(AP, 2/15/16)
2016 Feb 22, The Australian government said it plans to start a register of foreign ownership of water rights, redoubling its efforts to appease voters concerned about the amount of farming assets being sold offshore.
(Reuters, 2/22/16)
2016 Feb 29, Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on systemic sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, said senior clergy lied to him to cover up abuse in the 1970s.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 1, Australian scientists warned coral bleaching was occurring on the Great Barrier Reef as sea temperatures warm, and it could rapidly accelerate unless cooler conditions blow in over the next few weeks.
(AFP, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 7, In Australia a man (33) who police say fatally shot one person and wounded two others inside a western Sydney business was found dead inside the building after a six-hour standoff.
(AP, 3/7/16)
2016 Mar 18, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull won approval from Parliament to simplify the country’s convoluted system of proportional representation under which the Senate is elected.
(Econ, 3/26/16, p.45)
2016 Mar 19, Cities on Australia's east coast were among the first in the world to turn lights out for the 10th annual Earth Hour, a global movement dedicated to protecting the planet and highlighting the effects of climate change.
(Reuters, 3/19/16)(AP, 3/19/16)
2016 Mar 20, The Australian government ended its push to log World Heritage-listed forests on the southern island state of Tasmania, after the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO issued a report calling for the area to remain protected from logging.
(Reuters, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 21, Elmer Funke Kupper, the head of Australia's stock market operator, resigned amid a police inquiry into bribery allegations at a gaming group he previously managed.
(AFP, 3/21/16)
2016 Mar 21, In Australia Paul Whyte, a first officer on Qantas international flights, was the only person aboard a rented Cessna 172 when it vanished from radar late today over the Pacific Ocean 11 km (seven miles) northeast of Byron Bay.
(AP, 3/24/16)
2016 Mar 23, In Timor-Leste thousands of people rallied in front of the Australian embassy in Dili in anger over Australia’s refusal to negotiate a permanent boundary in the Timor Sea, which held untold quantities of oil and gas.
(Econ, 4/9/15, p.42)
2016 Mar 24, Australian and Malaysian officials said that two pieces of debris recently discovered along the coast of Mozambique are "highly likely" to have come from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
(AP, 3/24/16)
2016 Apr 4, Australia’s tax agency said more than 800 wealthy Australians are under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with a Panamanian law firm.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 19, Australian scientists said coral bleaching has been detected in Sydney Harbour for the first time, blaming the damaging phenomenon also found in the Great Barrier Reef on warming sea-surface temperatures.
(AFP, 4/19/16)
2016 Apr 20, Australian local media said it will cost an estimated A$93 million ($72.68 million) to begin the clean-up of environmental damage at the bankrupt Yabulu nickel refinery in the country's northeast near the Great Barrier Reef.
(Reuters, 4/20/16)
2016 Apr 22, In Australia Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham posted a video on Facebook showing him set fire to the Condamine River in Queensland, to draw attention to methane gas he says is seeping into the water due to fracking. The dramatic video quickly attracted more than two millions views.
(AFP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 26, Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that France has beaten Japan and Germany to win a A$50 billion ($40 billion) deal to build a fleet of 12 submarines for Australia, one of the world's most lucrative defense contracts.
(Reuters, 4/26/16)
2016 Apr 26, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled that Australia's detention of asylum seekers at a facility on the Pacific nation's Manus Island is unconstitutional. A day later PM Peter O’Neill announced the detention center would be closed.
(AP, 4/26/16)(SFC, 4/28/16, p.A4)
2016 May 2, Craig Wright, an Australian man long rumored to be associated with the digital currency Bitcoin, publicly identified himself as its creator, a claim that would end one of the biggest mysteries in the tech world. BBC News said that Wright told the media outlet he is the man previously known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The computer scientist, inventor and academic said he launched the currency in 2009 with the help of others.
(AP, 5/2/16)
2016 May 6, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced the launch of the next stage of a multibillion-dollar gold and copper mine in Mongolia following delays and political tension over revenue sharing and the foreign role in resource industries.
(AP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 6, In Iraq Australia-born terrorist and former rapper Neil Prakash (24) was killed in an American air strike in Mosul.
(SSFC, 5/8/16, p.A4)
2016 May 6, A Papua New Guinea court ruled that a pregnant African woman, who says she was raped at an Australia detention center for asylum seekers on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru, cannot be forced to have an abortion in Papua New Guinea because it is unsafe and illegal.
(Reuters, 5/7/16)
2016 May 9, An Australian law firm filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of families of victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The application names the Russian Federation and Putin as respondents and seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger.
(Reuters, 5/21/16)
2016 May 12, In Australia the 4-day Sexpo, Sydney's adult entertainment and lifestyle show, opened for its 20th year.
(http://www.sexpo.com.au/)(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 15, Australians cheered contestant and juries' favorite Dami Im for placing second at the annual Eurovision song contest in Sweden.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 30, Scientists said mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, though corals to the south have escaped with little damage.
(AP, 5/30/16)
2016 Jun 5, In Australia torrential rain and high winds battered the east coast, leaving up to 26,000 homes without power while flooding forced hundreds of people into evacuation centers.
(Reuters, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 6, Australian authorities said 3 people were killed in floodwaters from a strong storm that pounded the east coast over the weekend.
(AP, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 14, Australian researchers said the Bramble Cay melomys, a rodent that only lived on Bramble Cay in the Great Barrier Reef, has become the first documented mammal to go extinct due to man-made climate change.
(SFC, 6/15/16, p.A4)
2016 Jul 2, Australia held general elections. PM Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party-led coalition needed 76 of 150 seats to form a government. On July 10 Turnbull finally claimed victory for his conservative coalition. The incumbent Liberal/National coalition secured 76 seats in the 150-seat lower House of Representatives.
(AP, 7/2/16)(AP, 7/10/16)(AFP, 7/11/16)
2016 Jul 7, Australia's greyhound industry was reeling after New South Wales, the country's most populous, state banned the sport following a string of scandals including "live baiting" and the slaughter of tens of thousands of dogs.
(AFP, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 12, In Australia Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov (65) launched his 184-foot-tall balloon in western Australia state in an effort to complete a 21,000-mile solo flight around the world in less than 13 days to beat a 2002 record set by Steve Fossett.
(SFC, 7/13/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 17, US Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a series of agreements between the US and Australia to create an "unprecedented" international research database of cancer patients as he kicked off a three-day visit in Melbourne.
(AFP, 7/17/16)
2016 Jul 26, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull said that he would launch a Royal Commission after graphic footage emerged of teens being tear-gassed and stripped naked at a youth detention center in the Northern Territory.
(AP, 7/26/16)
2016 Jul 28, Australian officials confirmed that data recovered from a home flight simulator owned by Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the captain of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, showed that someone had used the device to plot a course to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed.
(AP, 7/28/16)
2016 Aug 2, Australia's central bank dropped interest rates to a new record low of 1.5% after a recent run of soft inflation readings.
(AFP, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 2, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ordered Australia to present a resettlement plan for nearly 900 asylum seekers held in what it says is an illegal detention center on Manus island. Detainees feared the move will further delay their release.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 5, Australia said it was suspending funding for relief group World Vision's operations in the Palestinian Territories after allegations its Gaza representative funneled millions of dollars to the Islamist militant group Hamas.
(Reuters, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 9, In Australia several cyberattacks and a hardware failure led to a census website being shut down thwarting a first attempt to conduct the census online.
(AP, 8/9/16)
2016 Aug 11, Australia announced that it plans to block Chinese bidders from leasing a major Sydney electricity grid on national security grounds.
(AP, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 23, In Australia visiting Frenchman Smail Ayad (29) shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as he stabbed a British woman to death and wounded two people at a backpackers' hotel in in Home Hill, Queensland state. The dead woman was identified as Mia Ayliffe-Chung (21) from the English county of Derbyshire. On September 30 British backpacker Thomas Jackson (30) died of wounds suffered while trying to stop the attack on Chung.
(Reuters, 8/24/16)(AFP, 8/25/16)(Reuters, 8/30/16)
2016 Aug 24, Australia’s New South Wales parliament in Sydney banned greyhound racing in an overnight session effective from July 1, 2017.
(AFP, 8/24/16)
2016 Aug 28, In Australia Sydney police allegedly found 95 kg (209 pounds) of cocaine in the cabin luggage of Andre Tamine (63), Isabelle Lagace (28) and Melina Roberce (22), all Canadian passengers on the MS Sea Princess cruise ship. The haul was valued at 31 million Australian dollars ($23 million).
(AP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 29, Australian officials said aid worker Kerry Jane Wilson, kidnapped in Afghanistan in April, has been freed by Afghan forces after four months in captivity. Wilson was kidnapped on April 28 in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
(AP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 31, Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull urged his political opponents to allow Australians to endorse gay marriage through a popular vote instead of insisting that the divisive issue be put into lawmakers' hands.
(AP, 8/31/16)
2016 Aug, Australia said it would close an asylum seekers’ camp in Papua New Guinea, but did not say when or where the refugees would go.
(Econ, 9/3/16, p.34)
2016 Sep 1, Australian scientists unveiled fossils dating back 3.7 billion years. Tiny structures called stromatolites were found in ancient rock along the edge of Greenland's ice cap. The earliest evidence of life on Earth ahead of the Greenland discovery came from near-3.5 million-year-old stromatolites found in western Australia in 2006.
(AFP, 9/1/16)
2016 Sep 19, The Australian government said it has reached a 39.3 million Australian dollar ($29.6 million) settlement with the owners of Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng1 to pay for environmental damage to the Great Barrier Reef caused when the ship went off course in April 2010 and grounded on Douglas Shoal.
(AP, 9/19/16)
2016 Oct, In China the head of Crown's VIP International team, Jason O'Connor, was among three Australian and 15 Chinese employees detained for suspected gambling crimes. Jenny Chiang (33), a Shanghai-based Chinese citizen, was released on Nov 11.
(AP, 11/12/16)
2016 Nov 7, Australia’s Senate blocked a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 11/8/16, p.A4)
2016 Nov 9, Australia's prime minister beat other world leaders to an early call with President-elect Donald Trump by getting his cellphone number from Greg Norman, the golfing great. PM Malcolm Turnbull said he had a warm and "very frank" 15-minute discussion with Trump within hours of the Republican nominee claiming victory in the presidential election.
(AP, 11/17/16)
2016 Nov 18, In Australia a man (21) injured 26 bystanders when he set himself on fire with gasoline in a bank branch in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale. He was soon identified as a Myanmar asylum seeker, known by his friends as Noor, who had been waiting three years to be accepted as a refugee.
(AP, 11/19/16)
2016 Nov 22, In Australia a downdraft generated by a passing line of thunderstorms in the state of Victoria pushed a layer of cold air thick with pollen, dust and other particles through Melbourne. At least ten people died.
(Econ., 5/16/20, p.49)
2016 Nov 23, Australian researchers said daylight saving time could reduce the decline of koalas in Queensland state, where the population has plunged by 80% in less than two decades in great part due to road accidents.
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.A2)
2016 Nov 29, Airbus said it wants to cut more than 1,100 jobs across Europe after presenting a reorganization plan to the works council in Toulouse.
(AP, 11/29/16)
2016 Nov, The Obama administration agreed to accept up to 1,250 refugees held at Nauru, who have been refused entry to Australia. Most of the refugees were from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka.
(SFC, 2/10/17, p.A2)
2016 Dec 1, Australia’s Senate approved a law allowing convicted terrorists to be kept in prison after the completion of their sentence if a court believes they still pose a significant threat to the community.
(SFC, 12/2/16, p.A2)
2016 Dec 5, Mexico struck a deal with Australia’s BHP Billiton to develop the Trion oil field in Mexico with state-oil firm Pemex.
(Econ, 12/10/16, p.62)
2016 Dec 23, Australian officials said they have detained five suspects who were allegedly planning a series of Christmas day bombings in the heart of Melbourne.
(SFC, 12/23/16, p.A2)
2016 Dec 28, Oil company BP said it has agreed to buy the fuel business of Australian supermarket chain Woolworths Ltd for $1.3 billion as part of its efforts to rebuild itself.
(AP, 12/28/16)
2016 Australian Historian James Curran authored “Fighting with America: A Lowy Institute Paper: Penguin Special: Why saying ‘No’ to the US wouldn’t rupture the alliance.
(http://tinyurl.com/ybzqns4h)(Econ, 2/11/17, p.33)
2016 Cal Flyn authored “Thicker Than Water: History Secrets and Guilt." Here she covered the 19th century massacres of Australian indigenous people.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.74)
2016 Robert Wainw right authored “The Maverick Mountaineer: The Remarkable Life of George Ingle Finch: Climber, Scientist, Inventor." Australian chemist George Ingle Finch (b.1888) died in 1970.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.91)
2016 Huge sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef were killed this year by overheated seawater.
(SFC, 3/16/17, p.A2)
2016 Australia’s population was about 24 million. Aborigines accounted for about 3% of the population.
(Econ, 6/18/16, p.41)(Econ 7/8/17, p.35)
2016 British firms owned approximately 7% of Australia’s agricultural land.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.34)
2017 Jan 5, An Indonesian government minister clarified that the country was suspending only part of its military cooperation with Australia, as that country promised its investigation of an alleged insult of Indonesian beliefs was nearly complete. Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said the issue began in November, after an Indonesian military officer raised concerns about teaching materials and remarks made at an army language-training facility in western Australia.
(AP, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 13, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull accepted the resignation of Sussan Ley, his health minister, after claims that she had misused taxpayers’ money.
(Econ, 1/21/17, p.31)
2017 Jan 14, The leaders of Australia and Japan agreed to boost cooperation between their militaries, as Japan tries to shore up security ties throughout the Asia-Pacific region amid concern over China's growing military might.
(AP, 1/14/17)
2017 Jan 20, In Australia a man (26) deliberately drove into pedestrians, killing four and injuring more than 20, in the center Melbourne. Police eventually rammed the car and shot the driver in the arm, before dragging him from the vehicle and arresting him. Police said the incident was not terrorism-related.
(Reuters, 1/20/17)
2017 Feb 2, US ties with ally Australia were strained over a reported acrimonious phone call between their two leaders. Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull insisted that a deal struck with the Obama administration that would allow mostly Muslim refugees rejected by Australia to be resettled in the United States was still on, despite President Donald Trump dubbing the agreement "dumb" and vowing to review it.
(Reuters, 2/2/17)(AP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 6, Australian church data showed that seven percent of Catholic priests working in Australia between 1950 and 2010 were accused of child sex crimes but few were pursued, as hearings began over allegations dating back decades.
(Reuters, 2/6/17)
2017 Feb 7, A Thai court sentenced Australian Antonio Bagnato (28) to death for the murder of a countryman who was an alleged confederate in a drug smuggling gang. He was found guilty of killing former Hells Angels member Wayne Schneider in November 2015 after he and accomplices beat and kidnapped the victim from his luxury villa in the Pattaya resort area.
(AP, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 9, An Australian minister said US officials have stopped screening refugees on Nauru for potential resettlement in the US, but will return for “extreme vetting," a process called for by Pres. Trump but not yet defined.
(SFC, 2/10/17, p.A2)
2017 Feb 19, In Abu Dhabi Australia's Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, met on the sidelines of the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX). The two agreed to consider a 10-year defense plan that could include more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($767 million) in sales to the UAE.
(Reuters, 2/19/17)
2017 Feb 21, In Australia a light plane crashed into a shopping mall shortly after takeoff in the city of Melbourne. The Australian pilot and four American tourists were killed including Russell Munsch, a founding Texas law firm partner who had litigated some of the most prominent bankruptcy cases in the US.
(AP, 2/21/17)
2017 Feb 23, Australia's highest-paid public servant announced his resignation, two weeks after the revelation that he made 5.6 million Australian dollars ($4.3 million) last year sparked a public furor and created a political headache for the government. Lebanese-born former banker Ahmed Fahour said he was leaving because Australia Post had transformed from a traditional mail service to a parcel and e-commerce business during his seven years at the helm.
(AP, 2/23/17)
2017 Feb 26, Australia and Indonesia said that full military ties between the two countries had been restored, after Indonesia’s military suspended cooperation in January because of "insulting" teaching material found at an Australian base.
(Reuters, 2/26/17)
2017 Mar 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the Australian capital, Canberra, on a mission to expand bilateral ties.
(AP, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 25, Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge plunged into darkness to mark Earth Hour, as global landmarks began dimming their lights to draw attention to climate change. Conservation group WWF started Earth Hour in 2007.
(AFP, 3/25/17)
2017 Mar 25, China prevented Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, from returning to Sydney because he's suspected of endangering national security. Feng had been wrapping up a three-week trip researching human rights lawyers. Chinese authorities have staged a wide-reaching crackdown on human rights lawyers across the country since July 2015. On April 1 Feng Chongyi was allowed to return to Australia.
(AP, 3/26/17)(AP, 4/2/17)
2017 Mar 28, In Australia Tropical Cyclone Debbie hit the far north of Queensland as a category 4 storm. It was soon downgraded to category 2.
(Reuters, 3/28/17)
2017 Mar 31, Credit Suisse issued a brief statement saying that local authorities had made "visits" to its offices in Amsterdam, Paris and London in connection with unspecified client tax issues. The European Union judicial agency Eurojust said it had helped coordinate cross-border investigations in a major tax evasion investigation involving millions of euros and spanning several European countries and Australia.
(AP, 3/31/17)(Reuters, 3/31/17)
2017 Apr 1, Tens of thousands of Australians were stranded by floodwaters after the remnants of Cyclone Debbie swept along the country's east coast, cutting roads, destroying bridges. The storm left three people dead.
(Reuters, 4/1/17)(Reuters, 4/2/17)
2017 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Malcom Turnbull and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed an aid agreement at the Australian Parliament House worth 320 million Australian dollars ($240 million) over four years. Hundreds of protesters demanded a better deal for the Hazara ethnic minority.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 17, In Australia surfer Laeticia Brouwer (17) died following a shark attack off Esperance, Western Australia state. She was the 3rd such fatality this year.
(http://tinyurl.com/y7trnozf)(Econ 5/20/17, p.33)
2017 Apr 18, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced plans to replace the 457 visa for temporary foreign workers in particular occupations with two new temporary visas requiring better English-language and work skills.
(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A2)
2017 Apr 22, In Australia US Vice President Mike Pence and PM Malcolm Turnbull swept aside any lingering tensions over an Obama era agreement on the resettlement of refugees, joining forces to urge China to take a greater role in pressuring North Korea to scuttle its nuclear weapons and missile program.
(AP, 4/22/17)
2017 Apr 24, Six people were awarded the annual Goldman Environmental Prize. They included Mark Lopez of southern California for work focusing on contamination from a battery recycling plant; Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo of Congo DRC for efforts to protect the Virunga National Park from oil extraction; Prafulla Samantara of India for efforts to halt an open-pit bauxite mine in Odisha state; Uros Maceri of Slovenia for efforts to halt pollution by the Lafarge Cement Co.; Wendy Bowman of Australia for her efforts to halt coal mining and pollution in the Hunter Valley; and Rodrigo Tot of Guatemala for efforts to halt evictions and government corruption related to nickel mining in El Estor and Agua Caliente.
(SFC, 4/24/17, p.A10)
2017 May 23, Sources said US Homeland Security officials have begun "extreme vetting" interviews at Australia's offshore detention centers, as Washington honors a refugee swap that U.S. President Donald Trump had called "a dumb deal".
(AP, 5/23/17)
2017 May 26, In Australia the "Uluru statement from the heart" called for constitutional change to give indigenous Australians a special voice in laws and policies that governed them. On 26 October, 2017, PM Malcolm Turnbull, issued a joint statement with the attorney general, George Brandis, and the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion rejecting the statement.
(https://tinyurl.com/y7xlqbfg)(Econ., 6/20/20, p.32)
2017 May 27, Indonesia deported Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, whose trial and imprisonment on the tourist island of Bali mesmerized her homeland following her arrest in 2004.
(AP, 5/27/17)
2017 May 30, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would cancel the passports of around 20,000 pedophiles on the national child sex offender register under legislation that will be introduced to Parliament soon. Australian pedophiles have been notorious for taking inexpensive vacations to nearby Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries to abuse children there.
(AP, 5/30/17)
2017 Jun 5, In Australia a shootout left two men dead, three police officers wounded and a female hostage freed in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton. Yacqub Khayre (29), a man of Somali background was killed in the gun battle with police. Khayre had first murdered a Chinese-born Australian man working as a receptionist. In 2010 Khayre was one of two men acquitted of plotting a suicide attack in Sidney.
(AP, 6/5/17)(AFP, 6/6/17)(SFC, 6/7/17, p.A5)
2017 Jun 16, A federal minister said Australia will allow gun owners to hand in illegal firearms without penalty from next month in a three-month nationwide amnesty as concerns grow over gun crimes involving such weapons.
(AP, 6/16/17)
2017 Jun 23, Australia agreed to send two surveillance planes to help the Philippines tackle Islamist rebels, as jets and artillery pounded militant positions in a southern town held for more than a month by Islamic State loyalists.
(Reuters, 6/23/17)
2017 Jun 25, Australian police fired pepper spray to break up clashes between right-wing nationalists and anti-racism protesters on the streets of Melbourne, the latest protest held by anti-immigration groups in the country.
(Reuters, 6/25/17)
2017 Jun 26, A Chinese court sentenced 16 Australian and Chinese employees of a casino company to nine to 10 months in prison after they pleaded guilty to gambling-related charges. This included three Australians from the sales and marketing team of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd. On July 12 China released 10 employees of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd., including two Australian citizens, after they completed nine months in prison. This included time served prior to trial.
(AP, 6/26/17)(AP, 7/12/17)
2017 Jun 29, Cardinal George Pell (b.1941), a top adviser to Pope Francis, took a leave of absence as the Vatican's financial chief to fight criminal charges in his native Australia that alleged he committed sexual assault years ago.
(AP, 6/29/17)
2017 Jul 2, Australian former schoolteacher Jeff Horn (29) stunned world champion Manny Pacquiao (38) of the Philippines to win the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown with a controversial unanimous points decision in Brisbane.
(AFP, 7/2/17)
2017 Jul 13, In Australia an unidentified man (58) became the 18th death worldwide due to exploding Takata air bag inflators. The man died in a crash in a Sydney suburb after he was hit in the neck by a metal fragment after air bags deployed in a crash.
(AP, 7/22/17)
2017 Jul 19, In China 30 to 50 people entered the Shanghai office of Sydney-headquartered brokerage, Union Standard Group Forex (USGFX), and prevented 20 staff members from leaving in protest against losses made on currency trades. Those being held were released on July 24.
(Reuters, 7/21/17)(Reuters, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 21, Australia said it plans to allow fishing across 80% of tis protected maritime sanctuaries. The plan required approval by Parliament.
(SFC, 7/22/17, p.A2)
2017 Jul 25, A Sydney lawyer announced a class action lawsuit against Toyota, Honda and Mazda seeking refunds for cars fitted with faulty air bags from Takata that have been linked to 18 deaths around the world.
(AP, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 25, In Australia aboriginal blind singer Dr. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (b.1970), the most beautiful voice in the country, died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC-Jd7KN64)(Econ, 8/5/17, p.70)
2017 Jul 26, Australian police fatally shot a man in Sydney's main train station who was suspected of attempting to rob a florist. The man was armed with a pair of scissors. The man was armed with a pair of scissors.
(AP, 7/26/17)
2017 Jul 29, Australian police foiled "Islamic-inspired" plans for a bomb attack on an aircraft during counter-terrorism raids in which two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons were arrested in several Sydney suburbs. Police later said one man sent his unsuspecting brother to Sydney airport to catch an Etihad Airways flight carrying a home-made bomb disguised as a meat-mincer built at the direction of a senior Islamic State commander. On August 8 Khaled Merhi (39) one of the four arrested men, was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and granted bail.
(AP, 7/29/17)(Reuters, 7/30/17)(SFC, 8/1/17, p.A2)(Reuters, 8/4/17)(AP, 8/6/17)
2017 Jul 29, In Indonesia a six-nation summit co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia agreed to set up a forum to strengthen cooperation between intelligence services to counter extremist threats in Southeast Asia. Security ministers and officials from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and New Zealand held a one-day meeting in Manado.
(AP, 7/29/17)
2017 Jul, Australian-Lebanese dual citizen Amer Khayat was arrested in Lebanon days after Australian authorities foiled an alleged plot to down an Etihad flight bound for Abu Dhabi. He was released in 2019 after a military court said he was innocent in the case. Two of Khayat's brothers were on trial in Australia for the plot. The plan involved detonating a bomb concealed in a meat grinder on a flight from Sydney on July 15, 2017, to the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, but it was abandoned when a bag with the bomb inside was too heavy to be taken aboard as carry-on luggage.
(AP, 9/20/19)
2017 Aug 3, Australian police charged two men with planning a terrorist act, over their role in a foiled "Islamic-inspired" plot to bring down an airplane.
(Reuters, 8/3/17)
2017 Aug 5, Three US Marines were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia while trying to land. 23 others were rescued.
(AP, 8/5/17)
2017 Aug 17, A third Australian government minister revealed she might have been unlawfully elected to Parliament because of a constitutional ban on dual citizens that has snared six lawmakers since July in an unprecedented political crisis. Fiona Nash, deputy leader of the Nationals junior coalition party, told the Senate she had been advised that she may be British because of her Scottish father.
(AP, 8/17/17)
2017 Aug 18, Australia's widening citizenship crisis entangled a seventh politician, a key independent senator whose support is critical for PM Malcolm Turnbull to pass legislation through a hostile Senate. Senator Nick Xenophon said he may hold dual citizenship, Australian and British, which would make him ineligible to sit in parliament.
(Reuters, 8/18/17)
2017 Aug 26, In Australia thousands of people rallied for marriage equality in Melbourne ahead of a postal survey on same-sex marriage which could lead to its legalization.
(Reuters, 8/26/17)
2017 Sep 2, It was reported that Australia and East Timor have reached a breakthrough agreement on a maritime border, ending a decade-old row between the two nations that has stalled a $40 billion offshore gas project.
(Reuters, 9/2/17)
2017 Sep 8, Australia’s Defense Minister Marise Payne said troops will be sent to assist Philippine forces in the ongoing battle against Islamic State fighters in the southern city of Marawi.
(Reuters, 9/8/17)
2017 Sep 8, In Samoa at the Pacific Island Leaders Forum PM Malcolm Turnbull said Australia will extend its Pacific Islands migrant labor program and fly aerial surveillance missions to protect valuable Pacific fisheries.
(Reuters, 9/9/17)
2017 Sep 10, In Australia more than 20,000 people rallied in Sydney urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, days ahead of a contentious postal survey on the issue that has divided the country.
(Reuters, 9/10/17)
2017 Sep 13, Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson (37) won Aus$4.5 million ($3.6 million) in damages following a lengthy defamation case against a publisher that portrayed her as a serial liar. Bauer Media argued the allegations made in Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015 were true and denied they had damaged her reputation.
(AP, 9/13/17)
2017 Sep 24, In Australia hundreds of people attended rallies in major cities to protest an advertisement the Indian community described as "highly insulting" in its depiction of the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha. The ad featured various religious figures including the Hindu god, considered vegetarian by followers, sitting down to a meal of lamb.
(AP, 9/24/17)
2017 Sep 24, Refugees left one of Australia's offshore detention centers for the United States, as part of a swap brokered by former US president Barack Obama last year. About 25 men left the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea.
(Reuters, 9/24/17)
2017 Sep 25, PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Australia will create its own space agency to increase its share of the $330 billion space economy.
(SFC, 9/26/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 30, Australia dispatched a naval vessel to Vanuatu to help the South Pacific nation evacuate all 11,000 inhabitants from the northern island of Ambae as an erupting volcano threatens to shower down burning ash and acid rain.
(Reuters, 9/30/17)
2017 Oct 8, It was reported that Australia’s pet and feral cats are killing more than 1 million birds every day.
(SSFC, 10/8/17, p.C14)
2017 Oct 15, In Australia hundreds of protesters marched through Sydney to call for detainees, being held in controversial centers for asylum seekers on remote Pacific islands, to be allowed to stay in Australia as a resettlement deadline approaches.
(Reuters, 10/15/17)
2017 Oct 21, In Australia thousands of people rallied around the country urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, one week before final ballots can be submitted in a contentious postal survey on the issue that has divided the country.
(Reuters, 10/21/17)
2017 Oct 29, Sir Ninian Stephen (94), former Australian Governor-General (1982-1989), died. He had worked on the Northern Ireland peace talks and served on the International Court of Justice.
(Reuters, 10/29/17)
2017 Nov 3, The UN human rights office called on Australia to restore food, water and health services to about 600 interned refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, which Canberra cut off three days ago.
(AP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 11, In Australia lawmaker John Alexander (67) announced his resignation over a constitutional ban on dual citizens sitting in Parliament, triggering a second by-election that could cost the government its fragile grip on power.
(AP, 11/11/17)
2017 Nov 19, In Australia Malcolm Young (64), AC/DC guitarist and co-founder, died after suffering from dementia for several years.
(AFP, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 23, Australia warned against American disengagement from Asia at a time of rising Chinese power as Canberra outlined its approach to the "Indo-Pacific" region in a 136-page document.
(AP, 11/23/17)
2017 Nov 30, The Australian government bowed to growing pressure by announcing a high-level inquiry into misbehavior in Australia's financial sector.
(AP, 11/30/17)
2017 Dec 1, In Australia Tesla Inc switched on the world's biggest lithium ion battery in time to feed the country’s shaky power grid for the first day of summer, meeting a promise by Elon Musk to build it in 100 days or give it free.
(Reuters, 12/3/17)
2017 Dec 2, In Australia Geoffrey Rush announced he's stepping down as president of the country’s screen industry academy, days after a theater company revealed it had received a complaint against the Oscar-winning actor of "inappropriate behavior."
(AP, 12/2/17)
2017 Dec 5, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull said that foreign interference in politics would be outlawed under updated treason and espionage laws.
(AP, 12/5/17)
2017 Dec 7, Australia's Parliament voted to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter debate settled by a much-criticized government survey of voters that strongly endorsed change.
(AP, 12/7/17)
2017 Dec 8, Gay marriage in Australia became a law as PM Malcolm Turnbull gained a final signature on a bill hours after it was overwhelming endorsed by Parliament.
(AP, 12/9/17)
2017 Dec 8, An Australian judge sentenced Adrian Attwater to at least 14 years in prison for the slaying of Lynette Daley, an Aboriginal woman, who bled to death from a violent sexual assault on a remote beach, closing a six-year battle for justice by the woman's family in a case that exposed Australia's deep racial divide. His co-defendant, Paul Maris, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
(AP, 12/9/17)
2017 Dec 15, The Australian government won a crucial by-election that restored its tenuous grip on power that was threatened by a constitutional ban on dual citizens sitting in Parliament.
(AP, 12/16/17)
2017 Dec 15, An Australian inquiry into child abuse recommended that the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and that priests be prosecuted for failing to report evidence of pedophilia heard in the confessional.
(AP, 12/15/17)
2017 Dec 16, Australian police arrested Chan Han Choi (59), accused of working on the black market to sell missile components and coal on behalf of North Korea. Choi had been living in Australia for more than 30 years and was of Korean descent.
(Reuters, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 16, In Australia two female couples were married in Sydney and Melbourne after being granted permission to waive a 4-week period in the first same-sex weddings under new legislation allowing gay marriages.
(AP, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 21, In Australia a white Suzuki SUV ran a red light in central Melbourne and sped up to slam into pedestrians crossing the road before crashing into a traffic barrier. 19 people were injured. Police said the driver was an Australian citizen (32) of Afghan decent who has a history of drug use and mental health issues.
(AP, 12/21/17)
2017 Dec 23, In Australia Afghan refugee Saeed Noori, accused of deliberately plowing into Christmas shoppers on Dec. 21 on a street in Melbourne, was charged with 18 counts of attempted murder and one count of conduct endangering life.
(Reuters, 12/23/17)
2017 Dec 31, In Australia the chief executive of British catering giant Compass Group Plc and four members of his family were killed when the seaplane they were flying in crashed into the Hawkesbury River in Sydney. All six people on board were killed. In 2021 investigators reported elevated levels of carbon monoxide in their blood due to cracks in the exhaust system of the DHC-2 Beaver plane that was built in 1963.
(AP, 12/31/17)(Reuters, 1/1/18)(AP, 1/29/21)
2017 Tim Winton authored “The Boy Behind the Curtain: Notes from an Australian Life."
(Econ 5/20/17, p.77)
2017 In Australia a British backpacker (22) was kidnapped and repeatedly raped during a monthlong ordeal in the country's Outback. In 2019 Marcus Allyn Keith Martin (25) pleaded guilty in the District Court of Cairns, in the far north of Queensland state, to charges of rape and deprivation of liberty against the woman from Liverpool.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2018 Jan 5, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said Crown-of-thorns starfish are feasting on parts of the reef system, which is already threatened by rising ocean temperatures.
(SFC, 1/6/18, p.A2)
2018 Jan 6, In Australia bushfires destroyed buildings and threatened lives as a heatwave in three states brought temperatures strong enough to melt the bitumen on a highway.
(Reuters, 1/6/18)
2018 Jan 17, Serbian police reported the arrest of three Australian citizens suspected of being part of an international drug-smuggling group. The men were linked to the discovery of 1,280 kg (2,822 pounds) of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese boat docked in Sydney, Australia.
(AP, 1/17/18)
2018 Jan 18, A pair of Australian swimmers became the first people to be rescued in the ocean by a drone when the aerial lifesaver dropped a safety device to distressed teens caught in rough seas.
(AFP, 1/18/18)
2018 Jan 29, Australia’s government announced a strategy to create high-tech jobs and become one of the top 10 defense-industry-exporting countries within a decade through arms sales to liked-minded nations while also keeping those weapons from rogue regimes.
(AP, 1/29/18)
2018 Jan 30, Australia's military said that a fitness tracking application did not breach security despite revelations that an interactive, online map using its data can show troop locations around the world.
(AP, 1/30/18)
2018 Feb 1, Australian secret service officers seized hundreds of classified documents from Australian Broadcasting Corp. bureaus in three cities as part of a probe into how top-secret government papers were mistakenly sold along with two discarded filing cabinets through a secondhand furniture shop.
(AP, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 4, Australia’s South Australia state government said some 50,000 homes will receive solar panels and Tesla batteries, in a landmark plan to turn houses into a giant, interconnected power plant.
(AFP, 2/4/18)
2018 Feb 12, Israel arrested an Australian woman accused of sex crimes against children in her home country. Australia wants Malka Leifer (54) extradited for sexually abusing children while she was a teacher at a local school. An Israeli court had previously stopped extradition proceedings against Leifer after determining she was not fit to stand trial.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 14, Australia's deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was under mounting pressure to resign as his party's leader over revelations of a relationship with a former staffer.
(AP, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 14, An Israeli court ordered Malka Leifer (54), an Australian woman accused of sex crimes in Australia, be placed under psychiatric evaluation until further notice.
(AP, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 15, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull banned government employees from having sex with staff as deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce battled for his political survival following revelations of a relationship with a former staffer.
(SFC, 2/16/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 17, Australia accepted the family of a murdered Cambodian political activist as refugees. Kem Ley's wife and five children arrived in Melbourne, from Thailand. Kem Ley was shot dead in a convenience store in Phnom Penh, in July 2016, and his family escaped to a Thai refugee camp. Australia continues to pay Cambodia to accept refugees that Australia holds in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 18, Tropical Cyclone Kelvin hit the resource-rich north coast of Western Australia, lashing it with strong winds and causing floods that could cut the main highway for up to two weeks.
(Reuters, 2/18/18)
2018 Feb 22, A Serbian court ruled that Australians Tristan Waters and Rohan Arnold, arrested over a $390 million cocaine haul, can be extradited to Australia. A case against a third man in the case, Australian David Campbell, was still pending.
(AP, 2/22/18)
2018 Feb 23, Barnaby Jones, Australia’s beleaguered deputy prime minister, resigned from the Cabinet over allegations that he sexually harassed a woman, but said he would not resign from parliament.
(SFC, 2/24/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 23, In Australia the yacht Finistere was taking part in the 70th Bunbury and Return Ocean Race and had six people aboard when it overturned off Mandurah, south of the state capital Perth just before midnight. Two sailors died.
(AP, 2/24/18)
2018 Feb 27, An Israeli court says Malka Leifer (54), an Australian woman accused of sex crimes, will not be extradited for reasons of mental illness.
(AP, 2/27/18)
2018 Feb 28, Australia issued a compulsory recall for all 2.7 million cars fitted with defective Takata air bags in an effort to lift the auto industry's mixed efforts to fix the fault blamed for at least 23 deaths around the world, including one in Australia.
(AP, 2/28/18)
2018 Mar 2, Australian health authorities said three people have died and 12 others have fallen ill in a national listeria outbreak linked to contaminated rockmelons, also called cantaloupes, and that more cases are expected.
(Reuters, 3/2/18)
2018 Mar 3, In Australia about half a million people lined Sydney's streets to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the first time the annual parade has taken place since Australia legalized same-sex marriage.
(Reuters, 3/3/18)
2018 Mar 3, Australia's smallest state Tasmania began voting in a local assembly election, with the incumbent conservative Liberal Party stirring controversy by promising softer regulations for gun ownership if it is returned to power.
(Reuters, 3/3/18)
2018 Mar 6, Australia and East Timor signed a historic treaty drawing their maritime boundary, ending years of bitter wrangling over billions of dollars of oil and gas riches lying beneath the Timor Sea and opening a new chapter in relations.
(AP, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 8, In Chile 11 nations signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, dropping tariffs and establishing sweeping new rules in markets representing about a seventh of the world's economy. members included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
(SFC, 3/9/18, p.C5)
2018 Mar 14, A father testified in an Australian court that his son said he was sexually abused by Vatican Cardinal George Pell during a waterskiing outing years ago.
(AP, 3/15/18)(SFC, 3/15/18, p.A4)
2018 Mar 17, In Australia Southeast Asian leaders (ASEAN) said they will sign an agreement on regional cooperation against violent extremism as the risk to the region grows due to militants fleeing Islamic State group losses in the Middle East.
(AP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 18, Australia's prime minister and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Sydney called on North Korea to end its nuclear program and urged UN countries to fully implement sanctions against the country.
(AP, 3/18/18)
2018 Mar 18, In northern Australia about 25,000 homes were without power in the city of Darwin after a tropical cyclone felled trees, canceled flights, closed schools and delayed shipping. Bush and grass fires sweeping across Australia's southeast destroyed homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds to flee as dry, hot winds fanned the flames.
(Reuters, 3/18/18)
2018 Mar 18, In Australia a fire began in southern New south Wales and over the next 24 hours consumed 69 homes.
(SFC, 3/20/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 19, An Australian court ruled that food giant Heinz's misled consumers about the health value of Little Kids Shredz products for toddlers, adding that the US firm should have been aware the claims were deceptive. The Shredz products contained over 60 percent sugar, significantly higher than fruit and vegetables.
(AFP, 3/19/18)
2018 Mar 21, In Australia a helicopter carrying American tourists crashed at a coral-viewing site on the Great Barrier Reef, killing two passengers from Hawaii and injuring two others from Colorado.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 22, US Pres. Donald Trump authorized initial exemptions for the EU, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico from looming steel and aluminum tariffs.
(AP, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 23, In western Australia more than 150 whales were found stranded in Hamelin Bay, and only 15 of them were still alive. The mammals are believed to be short-finned pilot whales. Volunteers managed to rescue only five of 150 short-finned pilot whales.
(AP, 3/23/18)(AP, 3/24/18)
2018 Mar 25, The maiden flight of a new non-stop regular passenger service between Australia and Britain touched down at London's Heathrow Airport. The new link with Perth, a 14,498-km (9,009-mile) journey, is around three hours quicker than routes that involve stopovers in the Middle East to change planes or refuel.
(AP, 3/25/18)
2018 Mar 27, Australia and Ireland joined more than 20 other nations in expelling Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack on a former Russian military intelligence officer and his daughter in Britain.
(AP, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 30, Russia ordered new cuts to the number of British envoys in the country, escalating a dispute with the West over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain. Scores of foreign ambassadors streamed into the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow to receive the notices given to 23 nations: Albania, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
(AP, 3/30/18)
2018 Apr 5, An Australian judge ruled that Frenchman Smail Ayad will not be tried for killing two British backpackers at a hostel in Home Hill, Queensland state, in August, 2016, because of mental illness.
(AP, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 28, The Australian Olympic Committee awarded a posthumous Order of Merit to Peter Norman, a record-holding sprinter who supported two Americans in their famous Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
(AP, 4/27/18)
2018 Apr 29, Australia pledged half a billion dollars to restore and protect the Great Barrier Reef in what it said would be a game-changer for the embattled natural wonder, but conservationists were not convinced.
(AFP, 4/29/18)
2018 May 1, An Australian court ruled that Vatican Treasurer George Pell must face trial on charges of historical sexual offences, making him the most senior Catholic official to be tried on such allegations. He pleaded not guilty.
(Reuters, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, French Pres. Emmanuel Macron arrived in Australia on a rare visit, with the two sides expected to agree on greater cooperation in the Pacific to counter a rising China.
(AFP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 4, In Australia Moutia Elzahed (50), the wife of an Islamic State group recruiter, gave the militants' single-finger salute outside a Sydney court after becoming the first person convicted under a new state law criminalizing the refusal to stand for a judge. Her husband Hamdi Alqudsi was sentenced in 2016 to eight years in prison for helping young Australians reach Syria to fight for extremists.
(AP, 5/4/18)
2018 May 8, Australia's conservative government pledged tax cuts for low and middle earners, cheaper beer, and billions of dollars for new roads and rail lines in a pre-election budget.
(AFP, 5/8/18)
2018 May 10, In Switzerland David Goodall, a 104-year-old Australian man, cheerily sang a few bars of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as he told reporters that medically assisted suicide should be more widely available and not only viewed as a last resort for the terminally ill. His death soon followed.
(AP, 5/10/18)
2018 May 11, In Australia a family of seven including four children was found dead with gunshot wounds at a rural property in Osmington village, Western Australia state, in what could be the country's worst mass shooting in 22 years. Farmer Peter Miles (61) was suspected of killing his wife, daughter and four grandchildren before turning the gun on himself.
(AP, 5/11/18)(SFC, 5/15/18, p.A2)
2018 May 14, Australian Steve Plain (36) became the fastest climber to scale the highest peaks in seven continents, taking 117 days for a feat popularly called the "Seven Summits", after he scaled Mount Everest.
(Reuters, 5/15/18)
2018 May 21, Australia's New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro said his state government has decided to legally protect rather than kill thousands of wild horses, known as brumbies, infuriating scientists who argue the feral species is doing severe environmental damage to the country's iconic Snowy Mountains alpine region.
(AP, 5/21/18)
2018 May 22, In Australia Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson (67) became the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse.
(AP, 5/22/18)
2018 May 25, The Netherlands and Australia announced they were holding Moscow legally responsible for its role in the July 17, 2014, missile attack and downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine nearly four years ago.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 31, Australia's Social Services Minister Dan Tehan said four in five victims of child sexual abuse in Australian institutions will be eligible for compensation after three churches, the Scouts movement and the YMCA joined a federal government redress plan.
(AP, 5/31/18)
2018 May 31, A cargo ship lost 83 containers over-board during heavy seas off Australia. Items including nappies and sanitary pads soon began washing up on beaches amid fears the ill-fated containers will pose a hazard for shipping and whales.
(AP, 6/2/18)
2018 Jun 3, Pope Francis nominated Gregory O'Kelly, the Bishop of Port Pirie, as special administrator to the Australian archdiocese of Adelaide after its head was found guilty last month of concealing child sex abuse by a priest.
(Reuters, 6/3/18)
2018 Jun 4, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's largest bank, said it has agreed to pay a 700 million Australian dollar ($531 million) fine for failing to comply with measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
(AP, 6/4/18)
2018 Jun 5, Australia laid cartel charges against banking companies Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and ANZ plus six bank executives over the sale of 2.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.9 billion) in ANZ shares to institutional investors three years ago.
(AP, 6/5/18)
2018 Jun 5, Renowned Australian playwright David Williamson (76) said that he is disappointed Chinese censors have canceled a production of his play "The Removalists" for the official reason that it contains bad language and violence. He said some involved in the production suspect the true reason the classic Australian play was banned was its depiction of police abusing their authority.
(AP, 6/5/18)
2018 Jun 6, In Australia the body of Wachira "Mario" Phetmang (33) of Thailand was discovered by a truck driver bound, gagged, wrapped in plastic and covered in a mattress protector. In 2019 Alex Dion (38) was extradited from the US and charged with murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/y29u8n9x)(AP, 4/14/19)
2018 Jun 9, Australia said it has established a security task force to guard against cyber attacks and interference in elections, amid concerns foreign powers are meddling in domestic affairs and ahead of five elections next month.
(Reuters, 6/9/18)
2018 Jun 21, Australia's Senate passed personal income tax cuts worth 144 billion Australian dollars ($106 billion) over a decade. The tax cuts for most of Australia's workforce were a centerpiece of PM Malcolm Turnbull's annual budget plans revealed in May.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 21, Australian developer Sebastian Monsour was charged with investment fraud. Monsour is CEO of the Majella Group, which is buying Maine's Saddleback Mountain ski resort. He was arrested after a raid on his offices in his home country.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 25, Australia said that it would negotiate a security treaty with Vanuatu, weeks after the Australian prime minister warned China against building a military base in the South Pacific island nation.
(AP, 6/25/18)
2018 Jun 26, Australia's House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved national security legislation that would ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics and make industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime.
(AP, 6/26/18)
2018 Jun 28, Australia's Parliament passed sweeping national security legislation that bans covert foreign interference in domestic politics, makes industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime and offends China, the nation's most important trading partner.
(AP, 6/28/18)
2018 Jun 29, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Melbourne's Archbishop Denis Hart (77), who said he'd prefer jail to telling civil authorities about any sex abuse of children that might be revealed to him in the confessional.
(AP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jul 3, In Australia Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention for covering up child sex abuse and ordered to serve at least six months before being eligible for parole.
(SFC, 7/3/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 12, Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson made an historic apology to indigenous people who are overrepresented in prisons and vowed to improve race relations.
(AP, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 19, Australia's PM Malcolm Turnbull called on Pope Francis to fire Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson (67), who is the most senior Roman Catholic cleric ever convicted for covering up child sexual abuse.
(AP, 7/19/18)
2018 Jul 27, Australian researchers said thousands of aborigines are estimated to have been murdered in 500 massacres across Australia from European settlement in 1788 until the mid-20th century.
(Reuters, 7/27/18)
2018 Jul 28, Australia's conservative government failed to win any of five by-elections, defeats widely seen as an indication PM Malcolm Turnbull faces an uphill battle to be re-elected in a national poll due by May 2019.
(Reuters, 7/29/18)
2018 Jul 30, The Vatican accepted the resignation of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson (67), the most senior cleric found guilty of concealing child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. The archbishop of Adelaide was convicted in May of failing to disclose to police abuse by a priest, Father James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976.
(Reuters, 7/30/18)
2018 Jul 31, In Australia Agim Kruezi (25), an extremist who planned a suicide attack with Molotov cocktails after he was prevented from flying to Syria to fight, was sentenced by an judge to 17 years and four months in prison, with a non-parole period of 13 years.
(AP, 7/31/18)
2018 Jul, In Australia Priscilla Brooten (46), a keen computer gamer from California, was last seen in the Brisbane suburb of Bracken Ridge, but was not reported missing until December.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2018 Aug 4, Indonesian police arrested Australian Brandon Johnson (43) and his Indonesian girlfriend at a rented room in the tourist hotspot of Kuta on Bali Island. Police reportedly found 11.6 grams of cocaine packed into 13 plastic bags. Johnson faced between five and 20 years in prison if found guilty.
(AP, 8/9/18)
2018 Aug 5, Australia announced a A$190 million ($140.56 million) aid package for drought-afflicted farmers as much of east coast suffers the worst dry spell in living memory.
(Reuters, 8/5/18)
2018 Aug 9, An Australian minister said five former dual nationals have been stripped of their citizenship due to their involvement with the Islamic State group overseas. A total of six people have now lost their Australian citizenship since the law was changed in 2015 to enable dual nationals to lose their citizenship rights for actions contrary to their allegiance to Australia.
(AP, 8/9/18)
2018 Aug 14, In Australia Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone ordered former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, most senior Roman Catholic cleric convicted of covering up child sex abuse, to be detained at his sister's house for at least 6 months before he is eligible for parole.
(AP, 8/14/18)
2018 Aug 15, Australian senator Fraser Anning was condemned for his speech in Parliament advocating reviving a white-only immigration policy and using the term "final solution" in calling for a vote on which migrants to admit into the country.
(AP, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 16, In Australia Paul Bradshaw (74), a man with terminal cancer, said he could die happy after reaching a 1 million Australian dollar ($727,000) landmark settlement against the Catholic Irish Christian Brothers for sexual abuse he suffered more than 50 years ago at the hands of Brothers Lawrence Murphy, Bruno Doyle and Christopher Angus, who are all dead.
(AP, 8/16/18)
2018 Aug 21, Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull called on his government to unite behind him after he survived an internal leadership challenge.
(AP, 8/21/18)
2018 Aug 24, In Australia disgruntled government lawmakers forced PM Malcolm Turnbull from office, arguing that most had lost faith in his leadership. New PM Scott Morrison promised a stable government. The push to oust Turnbull, led by fellow lawmaker Peter Dutton over four chaotic days, was inspired by a feud between hard-right conservatives and moderates.
(AP, 8/24/18)
2018 Aug 31, Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election that could bring down the unpopular conservative government.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, The Catholic church in Australia said it would oppose laws forcing priests to report child abuse when they learn about it in the confessional, setting the stage for a showdown between the country's biggest religion and the government. Two of Australia's eight states and territories have introduced laws making it a crime for priests to withhold information about abuse heard in the confessional.
(Reuters, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, In Cambodia Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, arrested after flying a drone to photograph an opposition party rally last year, was convicted of spying and sentenced to six years in prison.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, In Indonesia Australia's new PM Morrison met President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in his first trip overseas since becoming leader. Morrison said they would sign an agreement by the end of the year that aims to boost trade and investment.
(AP, 8/31/18)
2018 Sep 3, Scientists in Australia warned that a superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause "severe" infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world. The bacteria, known as Staphylococcus epidermidis, is related to the better-known and more deadly MRSA.
(AFP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 9, Australian police found up to five dead people including a woman and children in a suburb of the western city of Perth. In 2019 Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in Perth.
(Reuters, 9/9/18)(AP, 4/24/19)
2018 Sep 15, The Australian state of Queensland offered a A$100,000 ($71,500) reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for sabotaging strawberries with sewing needles.
(Reuters, 9/15/18)
2018 Sep 15, In Australia a man (23) and a woman (21) died after collapsing at the Defqon.1 music festival in Sydney. A dozen more were hospitalized and hundreds others sought medical assistance after suspected drug overdoses.
(Reuters, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 17, Public fears about sewing needles concealed inside strawberries on supermarket shelves spread across Australia and New Zealand. Needles were reported found in strawberries in all six Australian states.
(AP, 9/17/18)
2018 Sep 21, Cambodia granted a royal pardon to Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, who was sentenced last month to six years in prison on spying charges in a trial widely criticized as unfair.
(AP, 9/21/18)
2018 Sep 23, In Australia a Fisheries Queensland spokesman said four large sharks have been killed after a woman and a 12-year-old girl were attacked in separate incidents just a day apart last week at the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
(AFP, 9/23/18)
2018 Sep 27, The chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. resigned over allegations that he pressured the independent national broadcaster to fire two political journalists because the ruling conservative government disliked them.
(AP, 9/27/18)
2018 Sep 28, A US diplomat said the United States, Japan and Australia are cooperating on a domestic internet cable proposal for Papua New Guinea as an alternative to an offer by Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant that the United States regards as a cybersecurity threat.
(AP, 9/28/18)
2018 Oct 12, In Australia Chinese property developer Xu Longwei was sentenced to at least two-and-a-half years in jail by a court for non-consensual intercourse with a woman after a Sydney dinner party hosted by billionaire JD.com-founder Richard Liu.
(Reuters, 10/12/18)
2018 Oct 20, Australia's ruling coalition was forced into minority government after a massive swing against its senior partner, the Liberal Party, in a by-election for the seat of the prime minister the party itself had dismissed.
(AP, 10/20/18)
2018 Oct 22, Australia's PM Scott Morrison delivered a formal apology to the victims of child sex abuse, saying the nation must acknowledge their long, painful journey and its failure to protect them.
(AP, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 27, In Australia protesters rallied in Sydney and Melbourne calling for an end to the country's controversial South Pacific detention centers which house refugees who try to reach Australia by boat. Particular focus was directed toward the wellbeing of children on the tiny island nation of Nauru. More than 1,400 people are being held on the Australian-run detention centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea, some for years.
(Reuters, 10/27/18)
2018 Oct 31, In Greece John Macris (46), a Greek-Australian married to a model who appeared on a Greek reality TV show, was shot and killed as he left his home in Voula in his car this evening in a seaside suburb of Athens. Australian media have described Macris as having been involved in Sydney's organized crime scene.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 1, Australia announced it will invest in redeveloping a Papua New Guinea naval base as concerns mount over increasing Chinese influence in the South Pacific.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 1, Australia said it aims to remove all asylum seeker children from Nauru within two months as concerns escalate about their deteriorating health after languishing on the tiny Pacific atoll nation for up to five years.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 5, In Australia a shark killed Daniel Christidis (33) near Cid Harbor on Whitsunday Island on the Great Barrier Reef where two tourists were mauled on consecutive days in September.
(AP, 11/6/18)
2018 Nov 8, Australia launched a multi-billion dollar fund to counter China's rising influence in the region. PM Scott Morrison said Australia would invest in telecommunications, energy, transport and water projects in the region.
(Reuters, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 8, In Australia former New South Wales (NSW) state Labor party leader Luke Foley resigned after being accused of sexually harassing an ABC journalist, four months before a state election he had been in a position to win. Foley denied the allegations and said he has hired lawyers to sue for defamation over the claims.
(AP, 11/9/18)
2018 Nov 8, Tesla's board named one of its own as chairman to replace Elon Musk, complying with terms of a fraud settlement with US securities regulators. The company's board named Australian telecommunications executive Robyn Denholm (55) as chairman, effective immediately.
(AP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, In Australia Somali-born Hassan Khalif Shire Ali (30) set fire to a pickup truck laden with gas cylinders in the center of Melbourne and stabbed three people, killing one, before he was shot by police in a rampage they called an act of terrorism. Police said he was radicalized and inspired by the militant group's propaganda.
(Reuters, 11/9/18)(Reuters, 11/10/18)
2018 Nov 11, In Australia My Ut Trinh (50), a former strawberry farm supervisor, was arrested and charged with seven counts of contaminating goods after a "complex" investigation into a strawberry scare where needles were found stuck into the fruit. She was accused of retaliating over a workplace grievance.
(AP, 11/11/18)(SFC, 11/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Nov 16, In Australia Shinzo Abe became the first prime minister of Japan to visit Darwin since the northern city was bombed by Japanese forces in World War II, as he and PM Scott Morrison spoke of strengthening defense and other ties between their countries ahead of the APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea.
(AP, 11/16/18)
2018 Nov 17, An Australia man went into cardiac arrest at Lauderdale Beach, east of Hobart in Tasmania, after he suffered a stingray puncture wound to his lower abdomen.
(AP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 17, Speaking in Papua New Guinea US Vice President Mike Pence said the United States will join Pacific ally Australia to build a naval base on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
(Reuters, 11/17/18)
2018 Nov 18, At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Papua New Guinea, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the US and Papua New Guinea signed an electrification agreement to bring electricity to 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's people by 2030.
(AP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 19, In Australia shareholders gave final approval to the merger of television network Nine Entertainment and newspaper publisher Fairfax Media into an Australian media giant to be known only as Nine despite one shareholder's late bid to stop the deal.
(AP, 11/19/18)
2018 Nov 20, In Australia three men were charged with planning a mass-casualty attack in Melbourne. Hanifi Holis (21), and brothers Samed (26) and Ertune (30) Eriklioglu were arrested in a pre-dawn raid on their homes.
(SFC, 11/21/18, p.A2)
2018 Nov 27, Thailand detained soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi, who held refugee status in Australia, upon his entry at Bangkok's airport on a holiday with his wife. He was held legally following a request from Bahrain's government. He had fled Bahrain four years ago.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Nov 28, Large swaths of northeast Australia endured unprecedented fire danger with 138 wildfires across Queensland state forcing schools to be closed and thousands of homes to be evacuated.
(AP, 11/28/18)
2018 Nov 30, Thousands of Australian students skipped school to join nationwide protests demanding government action on climate change.
(AFP, 11/30/18)
2018 Nov, In Australia two conjoined girls from Bhutan were separated by a team of 25 surgeons, nurses and anesthetists in an operation at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital that lasted almost six hours. Twenty-month-old Nima and Dawa returned to Bhutan after a 22-hour flight from Melbourne with their mother, four months after their operation.
(AP, 3/7/19)
2018 Dec 5, The Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace recorded nearly 19,000 deaths last year in its annual Global Terrorism Index. That is a decrease of 27 percent from a year earlier and down 44 percent from a peak in 2014.
(AP, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 6, An Australian appeal court overturned a conviction against Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson (68), the most senior Roman Catholic cleric ever found guilty of covering up child sex abuse.
(AP, 12/6/18)
2018 Dec 7, ABC News reported that a 28-year-old Australian man will spend five months in prison for brutally killing a kangaroo in an attack filmed and posted on social media. Ricky Ian Swan was one of four men charged in September with using weapons to torture and kill two kangaroos.
(Reuters, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 8, Australian school children led thousands of demonstrators nationwide calling for a halt on plans for Indian mining firm Adani to construct a controversial coal mine in the country's northeast.
(AFP, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 9, The Australian government called for Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australian-based refugee soccer player, to be immediately released from detention in Thailand.
(AP, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 9, Iran state media said Australian-based academic has been detained on charges of trying to "infiltrate" Iranian institutions. Hosseini-Chavoshi, a population expert, is affiliated with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
(Reuters, 12/9/18)
2018 Dec 11, An Australian court sentenced a Sydney teenager (18) to at least 12 years in prison for planning an attack inspired by the Islamic State group in 2016.
(AP, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 11, An Australian court found Cardinal George Pell (77), one of the highest ranking Vatican officials and a former top adviser to Pope Francis, guilty on five charges of child sexual offences committed more than two decades ago against 13-year-old boys. The verdict was only made public on Feb. 26, 2019.
(Reuters, 2/26/19)
2018 Dec 15, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said his country now formally recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reversing decades of Middle East policy, but will not move its embassy there immediately. The Palestinian leadership described as "irresponsible" Australia's recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying it violated international law.
(Reuters, 12/15/18)(AFP, 12/15/18)
2018 Dec 22, Human rights groups along with current and former soccer players on called on FIFA and the Australian government to intervene to stop the extradition of Hakeem al-Araibi, a Melbourne-based refugee and semi-professional soccer player, from Thailand to Bahrain.
(AP, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 24, In Australia some 3,000 people were evacuated from a 36-story Sydney high-rise when cracking was heard and an internal support wall failed at the newly opened Opal Tower overlooking Olympic Park.
(AP, 12/25/18)
2018 Dec 29, Australia said it stripped Neil Prakash, a suspected militant held in Turkey, of citizenship because he fought for the Islamic State group. He became the 12th person to be stripped of Australian citizenship because of militant links, based on a 2007 law.
(AP, 12/29/18)
2018 Former Hutu rebels Leonidas Bimenyimana and Gregoire Nyaminani spent more than a decade in a Virginia state jail before Australia accepted them.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 Jan 4, An Australian man (24) rammed his four-wheel drive into a Sydney police car, hijacked a supermarket delivery truck and taxi, rammed other cars and stabbed and wounded a passerby before killing himself in front of police.
(Reuters, 1/4/19)
2019 Jan 7, It was reported that injury has forced Australian activist Mina Guli (48) to stop her effort to complete 100 marathons in 100 days as a way to highlight the importance of conserving water. Guli had run and walked 62 marathons on several continents, but in South Africa she was diagnosed with multiple stress fractures in her right femur.
(AP, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 9, Australian police late today arrested Savas Avan (48) after 38 packages allegedly containing asbestos were sent to foreign consulates in the cities of Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.
(AP, 1/10/19)
2019 Jan 15, An Australian state government announced plans to mechanically pump oxygen into lakes and rivers after hundreds of thousands of fish died in heatwave conditions. Up to a million dead fish were found floating last week in the Darling River in western New South Wales. 1,800 more rotting fish had since been found in Lake Hume in the state's south.
(AP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 16, In Australia Aiia Maasarwe (21), an exchange student from Shanghai University in China, was attacked shortly after stepping off from a tram in the suburb of Bundoora. Codey Herrmann (20), an aspiring rapper, was soon charged with murder and rape in the death of the Israeli student.
(AP, 1/19/19)
2019 Jan 17, In Australia the body of Monika Billen, a 62-year-old German tourist, was found beneath a tree in the searing heat of the central Outback, eight days after she was reported missing.
(AP, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 19, Yang Hengjun (53), a Chinese-Australian writer and visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, was detained upon at Guangzhou Airport. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying later said that Yang, a former Chinese diplomat and critic of China's Communist Party, was "suspected of engaging in criminal activities endangering China's national security".
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Jan 23, The Australian government said it is seeking information about Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian novelist and influential online commentator, who has been reported missing in China.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Jan 24, Adelaide sweltered through the hottest day ever recorded by a major Australian city as the temperature peaked at 115.9 degrees F.
(SFC, 1/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Jan 24, China said it has detained Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian writer, for allegedly "endangering China's national security," a vague charge frequently leveled at critics of the ruling Communist Party.
(AP, 1/24/19)
2019 Jan 25, Melbourne, Australia, recorded its hottest day in five years. The temperature reached 42.8 C (109 F) with the airport recording 46 C (114.8 F).
(AP, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 26, In Australia Japan's Naomi Osaka battled past Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-4 to win her first Australian Open crown and become the new world number one.
(AFP, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 26, Tens of thousands of people rallied across Australia calling for the abolition of the Jan. 26 national holiday in protests showing a deep division over a festivity intended to celebrate the birth of modern Australia. The anniversary marks the 1788 arrival of the "First Fleet" of British ships at Sydney Cove. Many indigenous Australians regard it as "Invasion Day".
(Reuters, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 29, Australian company TPG Telecom said it had abandoned the rollout of what would have been the country's fourth mobile network because of a ban on Chinese giant Huawei, which would have been the main equipment vendor.
(AP, 1/29/19)
2019 Feb 3, Australia announced that the last four child refugees held on the Pacific atoll of Nauru will soon be sent to the United States, ending the banishment of children under the government's harsh asylum-seeker policy.
(AP, 2/3/19)
2019 Feb 4, In northern Australia emergency workers used boats and helicopters to rescue people from flooded areas where forecasts call for more heavy rainfall.
(AP, 2/4/19)
2019 Feb 5, In Australia floodwater receded in Townsville, but overnight monsoonal rain created flash-flooding in communities to the north where authorities have warned residents to move to higher ground. Two bodies were reportedly found near a drain in the flood-stricken city of Townsville.
(AP, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 8, Australian police said they have arrested six people over the last 24 hours after what authorities said was the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in the United States and the biggest drug haul bound for Australia. US Customs and Border Protection said 1,728 kg (3,800 pounds) of the drug were seized mid-January at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex along with smaller amounts of cocaine and heroin.
(AP, 2/8/19)(SFC, 2/9/19, p.A5)
2019 Feb 8, In Australia a cyberattack on Parliament's computing network also affected the network used by major political parties. PM Scott Morrison later said a "sophisticated state actor" was behind the attack.
(AP, 2/18/19)
2019 Feb 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison described his government as stronger on national security than the opposition after signing an agreement with the French government to deliver a fleet of submarines and ahead of federal elections expected to be held in May.
(AP, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 13, The Australian government said it would reopen the mothballed Christmas Island detention camp in anticipation of a new wave of asylum seekers arriving by boat after Parliament passed legislation that would give sick asylum seekers easier access to mainland hospitals.
(AP, 2/13/19)
2019 Feb 15, The Pacific island nation of Nauru posted a new rule not allowing doctors to remotely recommend the medical transfer of asylum seekers to Australia. The new rule could thwart an easing of Australia's hardline immigration policy.
(AP, 2/19/19)
2019 Feb 27, In Australia George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex abuse, was sent to prison and will wait two weeks to learn his sentence for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral two decades ago.
(AP, 2/27/19)
2019 Feb 27, A court in Bali has sentenced Australian Brandon Johnson and his Indonesian girlfriend Remi Purwanti to five years and four months in prison each for possessing cocaine.
(AP, 2/27/19)
2019 Mar 3, In Australia firefighters battled 25 blazes across the state of Victoria as a record-breaking heatwave delivered the hottest start to March on record for the southern third of the country.
(Reuters, 3/3/19)
2019 Mar 4, Indonesia and Australia signed a free trade agreement in Jakarta that will eliminate many tariffs, allow Australian-owned hospitals to operate in the giant Southeast Asian country and increase work visas for young Indonesians.
(AP, 3/4/19)
2019 Mar 13, In Australia Cardinal George Pell, who in past years attended the retreat as Francis' finance minister, was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two youths in the 1990s. Pell must serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months before he is eligible for parole. He planned to appeal.
(AP, 3/13/19)
2019 Mar 23, Cyclone Trevor made landfall along a remote stretch of the northern Australian coast, bringing fierce winds and heavy rains amid safety fears for a small number of residents who've stayed in the area. Meanwhile Cyclone Veronica, another category 4 system, was expected to cross the northwest Australian coast late today.
(AP, 3/23/19)
2019 Mar 27, Australia's top cyberwarrior revealed that his country actively participated in the electronic war against the Islamic State group in Syria, degrading their communications during military operations and actively stopping people seeking to join the extremist group.
(AP, 3/27/19)
2019 Mar 28, In Australia Saeed Noori (37), an Islamic State group sympathizer, was sentenced to life in prison. He had rammed a car into pedestrians on a busy Melbourne sidewalk on Dec. 21, 2017, killing one person and injuring 16 others.
(AP, 3/28/19)
2019 Mar 30, In Australia two Japanese teenagers were found dead in Lake McKenzie after being reported missing from a school tour.
(AP, 3/30/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, Australia's Parliament passed legislation that could imprison social media executives if their platforms stream real violence such as the New Zealand mosque shootings.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Australia Dutchman Wiebe Wakker completed an epic 95,000 km (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 8, Australian police arrested 38 animal rights activists after they blocked peak hour traffic in Melbourne in protests to mark the first anniversary of a film, Dominion, about factory farming.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison called a May 18 election that will be fought on issues including climate change, asylum seekers and economic management.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward an actress.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Australia a drive-by shooting outside a popular Melbourne nightclub early today left one man dead, another critically wounded and two others injured.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 21, Two rescuers drowned off the coast of Australia's Victoria state when their boat flipped over during an attempt to help a man who was swept into the ocean from a rock ledge.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Australia Anthony Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in the west coast city of Perth last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 May 1, An Australian jury convicted Khaled Khayat (51) of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways airliner on a flight in 2017 from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 3, In Australia the Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher ordered Islamic State group sympathizer and firebrand preacher Robert "Musa" Cerantonio to serve at least five years and three months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Cerantonio and five other men had plotted in 2016 to take a 7-meter (23-foot) half-cabin fiberglass power boat off the northeast Queensland coast to encourage others to overthrow the government in the southern Philippines and install Sharia Law.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 9, In Australia three Sunni Muslim men were convicted of engaging in a terror act by burning down a Shiite mosque in the city of Melbourne on Dec. 11, 2016.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Australia's central bank took responsibility for typos on 46 million bank notes after a radio station posted an image of the microscopic error on social media. The word “responsibility" appears three times on the note and the third "i'' is omitted every time.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 13, A group of islanders off Australia's north coast filed a human rights complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government over inaction on climate change, which they say is threatening their homes. Torres Strait Islanders are part of Australia's indigenous population.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 16, Bob Hawke )89), Australia's longest-serving Labor Party prime minister, died. He won four terms as prime minister, serving from 1983 to 1991 before being ousted by his own center-left party when the economy soured. His charisma and powers of persuasion earned him near-folk hero status among many Australians.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 18, Australia held general elections. The ruling conservative coalition appeared on its way to a surprise win, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power. Former PM Tony Abbott, infamous for once calling the science behind climate change "crap", became the first big scalp in the country's elections, losing his seat of Warringah in Sydney's northern suburbs. PM Scott Morrison’s Liberal-led conservative coalition won or led in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government.
(AP, 5/18/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 20, In Australia figures from the Electoral Commission showed that with around 84% of votes counted, the conservative coalition of PM Scott Morrison was on target to win 78 seats — an increase of five after going into the election as a minority government.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 23, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush was awarded an Australian record of 2.9 million Australian dollars ($2 million) damages by a Sydney judge in defamation case against a newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, International police group Interpol said that nine people had been arrested in Thailand, Australia and the US and 50 children had been rescued after investigators took down an online pedophilia ring.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 29, Australian teenager Will Connolly )17), who cracked an egg on the head of Sen. Fraser Anning for his remarks about the New Zealand mosque massacre, donated almost $70,000 to people affected by the killings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May, Rugby star Israel Folau, a devout Christian, was fired after a Rugby Australia tribunal found him guilty of "high-level" misconduct for posting on social media that "hell awaits" gay people and others he considers sinners. On June 24 a crowdfunding campaign for his legal fees was shut down.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Australia a man who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage in the northern city of Darwin.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 5, Australia's Federal Police raided the offices of the national public broadcaster in connection to a 2017 story based on leaked military documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 7, Australian officials said they have seized the nation's largest haul of methamphetamine at the Melbourne waterfront, nearly 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of the illegal drug hidden in stereo speakers shipped from Bangkok.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 14, New Hampshire's highest court ruled that a Christian Science church in Australia cannot sue trusts created following the 1910 death of Christian Science movement founder Mary Baker Eddy.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Australia new laws went into effect in the state of Victoria making voluntary euthanasia legal under closely specified circumstances.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 25, A Christian group crowdfunded more than Aus$l.0 million ($700,000) in a single day for former Australian rugby star Israel Folau's legal battle to appeal against his sacking over homophobic comments.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 26, Australia's three largest media organizations joined forces to demand legal reforms that would prevent journalists from risking imprisonment for doing their jobs.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jul 1, In Australia former soldier David Hurley was sworn in as governor-general, a day before Parliament resumes for the first time since the May election.
(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jul 2, Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 1% in a bid to boost the economy.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 2, In Australia three men were arrested over an Islamic State group-inspired plot to attack a variety of Sydney targets including police and defense buildings, courts, churches and diplomatic missions.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 4, Australian student Alek Sigley (29), released after a week in detention in North Korea, arrived in Tokyo after telling reporters he was in "very good" condition, without saying what happened to him.
(AP, 7/4/19)
2019 Jul 6, North Korea said that Australian student Alek Sigley, who it detained for a week, had spread anti-Pyongyang propaganda and engaged in spying by providing photos and other materials to news outlets with critical views toward the North.
(AP, 7/6/19)
2019 Jul 19, The US Department of Transportation (DOT) granted American Airlines Group Inc and Qantas Airways Ltd final approval to operate a joint venture after a prior effort was rejected in 2016.
(Reuters, 7/19/19)
2019 Jul 23, Australia-based BHP, a leading resources company, said it will invest $400 million over five years to reduce emissions, becoming the first miner to pledge to tackle pollution caused when customers use its products.
(Reuters, 7/23/19)
2019 Jul 29, In Australia hundreds of protesters rallied outside Parliament House highlighting the uncertain futures of many refugees since the government replaced permanent protection visas with temporary visas.
(AP, 7/29/19)
2019 Aug 9, Australia's Home Affairs minister asked police to exhaust all avenues before conducting more searches of journalists, after criticism over the raid of an editor's home and the offices of the national broadcaster.
(Reuters, 8/9/19)
2019 Aug 13, In Australia Mert Ney (21) was wrestled to the ground by three British men after he yelled "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and wounded one woman and attempted to stab others in Sidney. He had already allegedly stabbed one woman (21) to death in a nearby apartment. Police said he had a history of mental health issues.
(The Telegraph, 8/13/19)(SFC, 8/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 21, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has agreed to a request from the United States to join a coalition of countries protecting oil tankers and cargo ships from threats posed by Iran in the Straits of Hormuz.
(Reuters, 8/21/19)
2019 Aug 23, In China Yang Hengjun (53), a Chinese-born Australian writer, was formally arrested on suspicion of espionage. The former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger has been held in China since January amid growing diplomatic tension between Canberra and Beijing.
(AP, 8/27/19)
2019 Aug 25, Australian officials said the government will block access to internet domains hosting terrorist material during crisis events and will consider legislation to force digital platforms to improve the safety of their services.
(Reuters, 8/25/19)
2019 Aug 28, Australia announced that it has formed a task force to crack down on attempts by foreign governments to meddle in Australian universities.
(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 29, A dramatic late-night call from an Australian judge to a plane bound for Sri Lanka temporarily spared a family of four -- including two Aussie-born toddlers -- from deportation and fueled a political firestorm Down Under.
(AFP, 8/30/19)
2019 Aug 30, Australia downgraded the Great Barrier Reef's long-term outlook to "very poor" for the first time, as the world heritage site struggles with "escalating" climate change.
(The Telegraph, 8/30/19)
2019 Aug 30, Australia announced an new maritime security agreement with East Timor in which the fledgeling democracy will gain naval infrastructure and an undersea internet link with the world as China increases its influence in the region.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 6, It was reported that Australia is facing skyrocketing rates of opioid prescriptions and related deaths.
(SFC, 9/6/19, p.A4)
2019 Sep 7, Australian firefighters battled strong winds and fast-moving blazes as they worked to contain out-of-control bushfires that have destroyed at least 21 homes across two states on the country's east coast.
(Reuters, 9/7/19)
2019 Sep 8, Australian firefighters battled more than 100 bushfires across two eastern states as authorities warned that parts of the country could expected a severe bushfire season this summer.
(Reuters, 9/8/19)
2019 Sep 11, Australia's government and media said two women who are dual British-Australian citizens and an Australian man have been detained in Iran, one of them sentenced to 10 years in prison. A British-Australian blogger and her Australian boyfriend were detained 10 weeks ago while traveling through Asia. The Times newspaper in London reported that a British-Australian academic who studied at Cambridge University and was lecturing at an Australian university was detained separately and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
(AP, 9/11/19)
2019 Sep 18, Indonesia sent nine containers with at least 135 tons of waste back to Australia after discovering that they were contaminated with used plastic and hazardous materials. 547 containers were to be returned to wealthy nations.
(SFC, 9/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Sep 20, President Donald Trump held his second State Dinner, in honor of Australian PM Scott Morrison. The dinner followed a day of meetings and a joint press conference with Morrison, a like-minded conservative leader. Trump's only other State Dinner Trump has hosted was for French President Emmanuel Macron in April 2018.
(AP, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 21, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said his country will invest A$150 million ($101 million) in its companies and technology to help US President Donald Trump's bid for a moon landing by 2024 and subsequent US missions to Mars.
(Reuters, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 26, Australia's state of New South Wales decriminalized abortion. It became the last jurisdiction in the country to revise blanket penalties enacted decades ago.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 2, An Israeli court ordered Malka Leifer, a former educator accused of sexually abusing her students in Australia, released on house arrest while she fights extradition proceedings.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 3, Paleontologists said fossils of the pterosaur, named Ferrodraco lentoni, were unearthed in the Australian state of Queensland. The creature, which lived about 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, boasted a 13-foot (4-meter) wingspan, a bony crest at the tip of its upper and lower jaws and spike-shaped teeth perfect for a diet of fish.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 5, Australian travel-blogging couple Jolie King and Mark Firkin, held in Iran on spying charges, returned home after being freed. Hours later state media in Tehran said Iranian student Reza Dehbashi, held in Australia for 13 months on accusations of circumventing US sanctions on military equipment, had also been released and returned home.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 20, Australia's Qantas airline completed the first nonstop commercial flight from New York to Sydney. The flight lasted 19 hours and16 minutes.
(SFC, 10/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 25, It was reported that Australia has banned climbers on Uluru, one of the country's landmarks that is sacred to its indigenous custodians. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, formerly known as Ayers Rock, will become permanently off limits to climbers from Oct. 26 after a decades-long fight by the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 27, Australia’s most notorious serial killer, who murdered at least seven people including two British tourists, has died in prison. Ivan Milat was convicted in 1996 of the murders of seven backpackers. Milat, who inspired the horror film Wolf Creek, was successfully prosecuted in part due to the testimony of British backpacker Paul Onions, who escaped from the murderer in 1990.
(The Telegraph, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 29, An Australian judge sentenced Codey Herrmann (21) to 36 years in prison for the January 16 murder and rape of Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe, whom he bludgeoned into unconsciousness moments after she stepped off a tram in Melbourne before setting her corpse on fire.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Australian Border Force agents discovered 881 pounds of meth hidden in a shipment of Sriracha hot sauce that arrived in the country from the US. The estimated street cost in Australia was $300 million. Four people were soon arrested.
(Insider, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 4, Australia, Japan and the US announced their "Blue Dot Network" an alternative to China's Bridge and Road Initiative (BRI).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dot_Network)(Econ., 7/6/20, p.33)
2019 Nov 9, Australian authorities said three people have died, four are missing and at least 150 homes have been destroyed as bushfires rage across eastern Australia.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, In Australia Kumanjayi Walker (19) was fatally shot by Officer Zachary Rolfe. Kumanjayi had stabbed Constable Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of scissors during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu. In 2022 Rolfe was found not guilty in the teen's killing.
(https://tinyurl.com/krnanmcu)(SFC, 3/12/22, p.A3)
2019 Nov 10, Australian firefighters raced to contain widespread bushfires that have left three people dead, and warned of "catastrophic" fire conditions ahead, including around the country's biggest city of Sydney.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Australia dozens of wild fires burned across broad swaths of the country's east and west as firefighters scrambled to shore up defenses ahead of hotter weather and stronger winds expected to bring more danger in the coming days. The death toll was now at four as about 60 fires burned in New South Wales.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 24, China denied the explosive clims of a self-confessed spy seeking asylum in Australia. Newspapers reported that Chinese defector Wang Liqiang has given Australia’s counterespionage agency intelligence on how Beijing conducts its interference operations abroad and revealed the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong.
(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 4, Australia's conservative government repealed a contentious law that allowed ill asylum-seekers languishing in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru to travel to the country for medical treatment. More than 460 people remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 5, The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) issued a joint statement saying three people have been charged with importing 1,633 kg (3,600 lbs.) of methamphetamine and heroin into Australia by hiding them inside of stereo speakers originating from Bangkok, Thailand.
(Insider, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 6, Australian firefighters said a giant bushfire on the edge of Sydney, which has blanketed the city in smoke causing a spike in respiratory illnesses and the cancellation of outdoor sports, will take weeks to control but will not be extinguished without heavy rains.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Australia smoke from wildfires engulfed the city of Sydney. People were advised to stay indoors and avoid all outdoor activity.
(SFC, 12/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 15, The UN Secretary General said global efforts to tackle climate change have stalled due to a lack of ambition, as the COP25 conference in Madrid drew to a close with a watered-down agreement. Brazil, Australia and the United States were singled out for their refusal to compromise on their own emissions targets.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 17, Australia experienced its hottest day on record and temperatures were expected to soar even higher as heatwave conditions embrace most of the country. The average temperature across the country of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) beat the record of 40.3 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) from Jan. 7, 2013.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 19, Australia's most populous state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of emergency as oppressive conditions fanned around 100 wildfires.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 21, Australia’s most populous state (New South Wales) was paralyzed by “catastrophic" fire conditions amid soaring temperatures, while one person died as wildfires ravaged the country’s southeast. The devastation has put pressure on PM Scott Morrison, who has received criticism for going on a family vacation in Hawaii during the wildfire crisis.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 22, Australian PM Scott Morrison apologized Sunday for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 27, In Australia the temperature in Adelaide hit 108º F prompting the South Australian government to declare a code red alert.
(SFC, 12/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 28, In Australia thousands of koalas were feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged area north of Sydney, further diminishing the iconic marsupial, while the fire danger increased in the country’s east as temperatures soared.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 29, The Israeli government appointed Yaacov Litzman as health minister, sparking a litany of condemnations from Australia's staunchly pro-Israel Jewish community. Litzman is suspected of aiding an alleged sexual abuser wanted in Australia.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 31, Wildfires burning across Australia's two most populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties and caused at least two fatalities. In the southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state, around 4,000 residents fled toward the waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2020 Jan 1, Australia deployed military ships and aircraft to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that have left at least 17 people dead nationwide and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline.
(AP, 1/1/20)
2020 Jan 2, Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. Authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast this week and at least eight people have died this week in the state and neighboring Victoria.
(AP, 1/2/20)
2020 Jan 3, In Australia one of the largest evacuations in the country's history was under way as more than 200 fires burned across the country. The navy evacuated hundreds of people from Mallacoota, cut off for days by the wild fires. Victoria premier declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state. Ten deaths have been confirmed in Victoria and New South
Wales with 28 reported missing in Victoria.
(SFC, 1/4/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 4, Wildfires raged in Australia, choking the sky with smoke, forcing thousands to flee and prompting the US to send more fire personnel to help battle the blazes.
(Good Morning America, 1/4/20)
2020 Jan 5, It was reported that wildfires that have been ravaging swaths of Australia have burned through one-third of Kangaroo Island, killing a father and his son and leaving behind a scorched wasteland and a devastated community. The fires have killed thousands of koalas and kangaroos, and also have raised questions about whether any members of a mouse-like marsupial species that carries its young in a pouch have survived.
(AP, 1/5/20)
2020 Jan 9, The Israeli the Justice Ministry confirmed that a psychiatric panel has determined that Malka Leifer, a woman facing dozens of sex-abuse charges in Australia, is fit to stand trial for extradition.
(AP, 1/9/20)
2020 Jan 10, In southeastern Australia two wildfires merged to form a massive 1.58 million-acre inferno in the Snowy Mountains region near Tumbarumba. A man suffered serious burns protecting a home, in a night of treacherous conditions during the nation’s unprecedented wildfire crisis.
(AP, 1/10/20)(SSFC, 1/12/20, p.A4)
2020 Jan 20, In Australia a hail storm hit Canberra damaging buildings, homes and cars, and caused flash flooding. Recent rains have helped but have not extinguished major fires in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(SFC, 1/21/20, p.A2)
2020 Jan 23, In Australia three American crew members were killed when a C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker crashed while battling wildfires in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales.
(AP, 1/23/20)
2020 Jan 25, Australia declared its first confirmed case of the Wuhan coronavirus in the state of Victoria, with the patient hospitalized in a stable condition in a suburb of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 1/25/20)
2020 Jan 26, Australia Day celebrations saw thousands of people flock to beaches and music festivals, but festivities were clouded by the tragedy of bushfires which have killed 33 and destroyed hundreds of homes.
(Reuters, 1/26/20)
2020 Jan 31, The Australian capital region declared a state of emergency because of an out-of-control forest fire burning erratically to its south.
(AP, 1/31/20)
2020 Feb 1, Australia banned all arrivals from China due to the coronavirus.
(Econ, 3/21/20, p.35)
2020 Feb 2, In Australia dozens of homes were destroyed overnight in New South Wales and around Canberra.
(SFC, 2/3/20, p.A3)
2020 Feb 7, Heavy rains lashed parts of the wildfire and drought-stricken Australian east coast, bringing some flooding in Sydney and relief to firefighters still dealing with dozens of blazes in New South Wales. There were still 42 fires burning in the state, with 17 of those not contained.
(AP, 2/7/20)
2020 Feb 8, Australian authorities declared the Currowan Fire south of Sydney was finally out after destroying more than 300 homes and razing 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) over two-and-a-half months. A deluge in eastern parts of the country drenched deadly fires and helped ease a crippling drought.
(AP, 2/10/20)
2020 Feb 19, In Australia a mother and her three children died in a car fire after Rowan Baxter (42), her estranged husband and the children's father, allegedly doused his family with gas before setting the car alight. Baxter was found dead near the scene, reportedly after stabbing himself.
(AP, 2/19/20)
2020 Feb 20, In Australia a train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed killing two people on board.
(SFC, 2/21/20, p.A2)
2020 Feb 21, In Australia, two people who had been evacuated from a virus-wracked cruise ship off Japan tested positive for mild cases of the COVID-19 illness.
(AFP, 2/21/20)
2020 Mar 1, A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said more than 80,000 Uighurs were shipped out of Xinjiang provice from 2017-2019 to take jobs in factories across China under conditions that "strongly suggest forced labor." China has acknowledged a scheme called "Xinjiang Aid" to reduce poverty in the province.
(Econ., 3/7/20, p.38)
2020 Mar 2, Australian health officials said that a woman and a male doctor have contracted coronavirus, becoming the first cases of community transmissions in the country.
(AP, 3/2/20)
2020 Mar 3, The Australian Associated Press said it was closing after 85 years, blaming a decline in subscribers and free distribution of news content on digital platforms. AAP's more than 170 journalists will cease operations by June 26.
(SFC, 3/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 10, Australia's coronavirus cases rose overnight to 100 from 80.
(AP, 3/10/20)
2020 Mar 13, Australia warned citizens the coronavirus pandemic is now so widespread that they should reconsider all foreign travel, as the government stepped up measures to slow the spread of the disease.
(AFP, 3/13/20)
2020 Mar 15, In Australia's New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, reported 22 new cases taking the totally tally to 134. Eight new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state of Victoria, bringing the total number of cases in that state to 57. Australia said it will impose 14-day self-isolation on international travelers arriving from midnight and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days.
(Bloomberg, 3/15/20)(Reuters, 3/15/20)
2020 Mar 16, Australia's capital and 2nd most populous state declared states of emergency after the national death toll from the coronavirus rose to five with nearly 300 cases in total.
(Reuters, 3/16/20)
2020 Mar 19, In Australia about 2,700 passengers disembarked in Sidney from the cruise ship Ruby Princess. More than 600 cases of the coronavirus and 15 deaths were later linked to the ship. About 200 crew members later showed symptoms of the virus.
(SFC, 4/10/20, p.A4)
2020 Mar 22, Australia said it will enforce more stringent controls to slow the spread of the coronavirus, closing pubs, casinos, restaurants and other venues from March 23 after the number of infections in the nation surged past 1,000.
(Bloomberg, 3/22/20)
2020 Mar 23, Australia’s parliament rushed through more than A$80 billion ($46.3 billion) in fiscal stimulus for the coronavirus-stricken economy at a special sitting in Canberra. Cases of coronavirus reached 1,709 as at 3 p.m., up 313 since 3 p.m. the day before.
(Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020 Mar 28, Australia’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 14. The number of confirmed infections stood at 3,635, an increase of 469 from a day earlier. Australia stepped up enforcement of social distancing rules, implementing fines, closing beaches and threatening stricter measures if people defy pleas to stay at home.
(Bloomberg, 3/28/20)(Reuters, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 28, Australian authorities pressed ahead with plans to fly 800 cruise ship passengers to Germany this weekend after a downward revision in the number of people on board who needed to be tested for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/28/20)
2020 Mar 30, Australia unleashed a record A$130 billion ($80 billion) jobs-rescue plan, pledging to subsidize workers’ wages as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the economy and throws thousands out of work.
(Bloomberg, 3/31/20)
2020 Apr 4, In Austria the number of confirmed cases increased to 11,781 with 186 deaths. The growth of COVID-19 infections decreased to a single digit percentage range. The health ministry issued a decree stipulating that not more than five people are allowed to meet in one room, even at people's homes, unless they live together.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 6, Australia's High Court overturned the convictions of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic leader ever found guilty of sexually abusing children. It found that the jury "ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offenses for which he was convicted".
(The Week, 4/7/20)
2020 Apr 6, In Australia a young wildlife worker (23) died following a shark attack on the Great Barrier Reef.
(SFC, 4/8/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 14, It was reported that a team of scientists in Australia earlier this month found that a single dose of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic treatment dates back to the 1970s and 1980s, could essentially remove all viral RNA of the coronavirus by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it.
(ABC News, 4/14/20)
2020 Apr 18, A German-operated cruise ship left Western Australia after three weeks. Three people died on board of the virus during that time. About 79 crew and passengers aboard the Artania had tested positive.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 20, More than 150 Australian economists warned the government against easing social distancing rules.
(Reuters, 4/20/20)
2020 Apr 22, In Australia a truck smashed into a police car that had stopped a speeding driver, killing four officers in Melbourne.
(SFC, 4/24/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 26, The Australian government launched a controversial coronavirus tracing app and promised to legislate privacy protections around it as authorities try to get the country and the economy back onto more normal footing. The app, based on Singapore's TraceTogether software, uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another.
(Reuters, 4/26/20)
2020 Apr 27, Australia's government said more than two million Australians have downloaded an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients hours after its release.
(Reuters, 4/27/20)
2020 Apr 30, Australia's Capital Territory declared itself free of all known cases of the coronavirus. Australia has recorded 6,746 cases, including 90 deaths.
(SFC, 5/1/20, p.A4)
2020 May 1, Australian PM Scott Morrison, who has angered Beijing by calling for a global inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak, said he had no evidence to suggest the disease originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
(Reuters, 5/1/20)
2020 May 1, Australian police fataly shot a man who stabbed and slashed seven people at and near a shopping mall in South Hedland, Western Australia state.
(SFC, 5/2/20, p.A2)
2020 May 2, Australian health officials said a small coronavirus cluster has emerged at a meat factory in the state of Victoria, as parts of the country started easing social distancing restrictions after suppressing the infection rate to below 1 %. Victoria reported seven new cases, three of which were related to a meat-processing facility. A total of 8 employees have tested positive.
(Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020 May 4, The Australian government set aside A$300 million ($191 million) to jumpstart hydrogen projects with the help of low-cost financing as the country aims to build the industry by 2030.
(Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020 May 16, Australia's Victoria state reported 11 new coronavirus cases, including some linked to known clusters at a meat factory and a McDonald's restaurant.
(Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020 May 18, Australia's Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham said China's decision to impose a tariff of 80.5% on barley imports from Australia is deeply disappointing.
(Reuters, 5/18/20)
2020 May 25, In Australia remnants of Cyclone Mangga battered a vast stretch of the western coast for a 2nd day.
(SFC, 5/26/20, p.A2)
2020 May 26, US biotechnology company Novamax began injecting a coronavirus vaccine candidate into people in Australia with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year.
(AP, 5/26/20)
2020 May 31, Australia continued easing COVID-19 restrictions as infections totaled 7,180 with 103 deaths.
(SFC, 6/1/20, p.A5)
2020 Jun 12, Australia's chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy said the coronavirus has been eliminated in many areas of the country, as more than half of the 38 cases reported over the past week were travelers returning from abroad and remaining quarantined.
(NY Times, 6/12/20)
2020 Jun 13, Protests went ahead in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in far-flung parts of Australia against the advice of government and health authorities but on a significantly smaller scale than the previous weekend.
(AP, 6/13/20)
2020 Jun 26, Australian intelligence officers and police raided the home and office of New South Wales opposition state legislator Shaoquett Moselmane as part of an investigation into alleged Chinese influence operations.
(The Telegraph, 6/26/20)
2020 Jun 30, In Australia Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne will lock down 36 suburbs until July 29 in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 7/1/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 3, Australia reported a drop in new coronavirus cases, with a surge in the second most populated state Victoria appearing to have eased, although more than 10,000 people have refused to be tested in hotspot suburbs of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 7/3/20)
2020 Jul 4, Australia’s Victoria state locked down nine public housing towers and three more Melbourne suburbs after 108 new coronavirus cases.
(AP, 7/4/20)
2020 Jul 8, In Australia the city of Melbourne and part of its surroundings began a six-week lockdown. Victoria authorities announced 134 new cases in the past 24 hours.
(SFC, 7/9/20, p.A7)
2020 Jul 9, Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extended visas for Hong Kong residents in response to China's imposition of a tough national security law on the semi-autonomous territory.
(SFC, 7/10/20, p.A6)
2020 Jul 11, In Australia, health officials in Victoria reported 216 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, down from the record 288 the previous day.
(AP, 7/11/20)
2020 Jul 12, Australia's government said that it will offer 10,000 Hong Kong passport holders currently living in Australia a chance to apply for permanent residence once their current passport expires.
(SFC, 7/13/20, p.A2)
2020 Jul 17, Authorities in Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne meanwhile warned that its lockdown could become even tougher after a record 423 new cases were registered there.
(AFP, 7/17/20)
2020 Jul 20, Australia's New South Wales state reported 20 new infections, the highest in three months. Authorities here have been unable to trace some of the clusters and state authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and public transport.
(Reuters, 7/20/20)
2020 Jul 22, Australia recorded 502 new cases of the coronavirus, including 484 in Victoria state, where face were made compulsory as of July 23.
(SFC, 7/23/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 23, Australia rejected Beijing's territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea in a formal declaration to the United Nations, aligning itself more closely with Washington in the escalating row.
(AFP, 7/24/20)
2020 Jul 24, In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced five deaths and 357 new cases. Victoria, where the death toll has risen to 61, earlier closed its border with neighboring New South Wales.
(AP, 7/24/20)
2020 Jul 26, Australia suffered its deadliest day since the pandemic began, with 10 fatalities and a rise in new infections despite an intense lockdown effort.
(AFP, 7/26/20)
2020 Jul 26, A light aircraft carrying 500kg of cocaine, worth an estimated £45 million crashed in Papua, New Guinea. The pilot, an Australian, soon surrendered to his country’s consulate in Papua. Five other men, allegedly linked to a Melbourne-based crime syndicate, were also later arrested.
(The Telegraph, 8/2/20)
2020 Jul 28, Australia said it was sending a medical team to help Papua New Guinea fight an outbreak of coronavirus after the neighboring country experienced a rise in infections. There were 62 confirmed virus cases as of late today, up from just eight infections 11 days ago.
(Reuters, 7/28/20)
2020 Jul 29, Australian biotechnology company Vaxine Pty Ltd said it expects to start Phase II trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the next few weeks after "positive" results from the first stage human study.
(Reuters, 7/29/20)
2020 Aug 2, In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced a 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew on Melbourne, a city of 5 million people. Schools statewide are to return to home-based teaching and day care centers were closed. Andrews said there were seven deaths and 671 new cases over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 8/2/20)
2020 Aug 5, In Australia the streets of Melbourne’s usually vibrant downtown were draining of signs of life on the eve of Australia’s toughest-ever pandemic restrictions coming into force. Victoria set a new daily record of 725 coronavirus cases. Elsewhere in Australia, only 14 new infections were found.
(AP, 8/5/20)
2020 Aug 15, Australia's Victoria state reported 4 more deaths COVID-19 deaths and 303 newly confirmed cases over the last 24 hours in a positive trend downward.
(SSFC, 8/16/20, p.A11)
2020 Aug 24, In Australia notorious conman Peter Foster, who once assisted Cherie Blair in purchasing two properties in Bristol, was extradited to Sydney. Mr Foster was captured by two police officers disguised as joggers who tackled him on a beach in northern Queensland on August 20.
(The Telegraph, 8/24/20)
2020 Aug 30, New coronavirus cases in Australia's state of Victoria returned to the triple digits.
(Reuters, 8/30/20)
2020 Sep 2, Australia's Victoria state extended its state of emergency for another six months as it reported 90 new coronavirus cases and six deaths over the last 24 hours.
(SFC, 9/3/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 8, Australian journalists Bill Birtles and Michael Smith arrived in Sidney after being rushed out of China following a 5-day diplomatic standoff. Chinese investigators had sought to question them about Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian news anchor who was detained in August for national security crimes.
(SFC, 9/9/20, p.A2)(Econ., 9/12/20, p.35)
2020 Sep 17, Australia reported its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in nearly three months, as states said restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the virus will be further relaxed.
(Reuters, 9/17/20)
2020 Sep 21, In Australia hundreds of pilot whales were discovered beached on the shore and sand bars along the remote west coast of Tasmania state.
(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 21, An Israeli court approved the extradition of Malka Leifer, a former teacher wanted in Australia on charges of child sex abuse, potentially paving the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal battle.
(AP, 9/21/20)
2020 Sep 23, More pilot whales were found stranded in Australia, raising the estimated total to nearly 500, including 380 that have died, in the largest mass stranding ever recorded in the country. 88 whales were rescued and crews worked to free 20 more.
(AP, 9/23/20)(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A6)
2020 Sep 28, Australian biotech company Ena Respiratory said that a nasal spray it is developing to improve the human immune system to fight common cold and flu significantly reduced the growth of the coronavirus in a recent study on animals. Australia has so far reported 875 deaths and just over 27,000 coronavirus cases, far less than the numbers reported in other developed countries.
(Reuters, 9/28/20)
2020 Sep 28, Seventy world leaders signed the “Leaders Pledge for Nature" and vowed to take steps to halt the catastrophic human-made decline. Non-signers included President Donald Trump, his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro and Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(https://tinyurl.com/y64tmyrf)(NBC News, 10/16/20)
2020 Oct 2, Qatar Airways examined a number of female passengers bound for Sydney and nine other unnamed destinations after a newborn baby was found abandoned. The forced vaginal examination triggered outrage in Australia.
(AP, 10/30/20)
2020 Oct 6, It was reported that Tasmanian devils, the carnivorous marsupials whose feisty, frenzied eating habits won the animals cartoon fame, have returned to mainland Australia for the first time in some 3,000 years. The 11 most recently released devils began exploring their new home at the nearly 1,000-acre Barrington Tops wildlife refuge in New South Wales state.
(AP, 10/6/20)
2020 Oct 9, In Australia a surfer vanished in a suspected shark attack at Kelp Beds Beach near the town of Esperance.
(SFC, 10/10/20, p.A2)
2020 Oct 12, Australian researchers said the virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on banknotes, glass and stainless steel for up to 28 days.
(Reuters, 10/12/20)
2020 Oct 13, New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, said it will ease restrictions despite reporting the biggest one-day jump in new COVID-19 cases in six weeks.
(Reuters, 10/13/20)
2020 Oct 14, Researchers said half the coral that makes up Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has died since 1995 and that the decline would continue if no drastic action is taken on climate change.
(NY Times, 10/14/20)
2020 Oct 20, Australian officials evacuated workers from a Kuwaiti-flagged livestock ship docked off the country's west coast after at least half the 52 crew tested positive for COVID-19.
(Reuters, 10/20/20)
2020 Oct 20, Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.
(Reuters, 10/28/20)
2020 Oct 28, In Australia Melbourne’s pandemic lockdown was largely lifted after 111 days.
(AP, 10/28/20)
2020 Oct 29, Australia's COVID-19 hotspot state Victoria reported only one new infection, a day after it lifted a four month lockdown in the city of Melbourne.
(Reuters, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 29, An Australian judge ruled that a Adriana Rivas, a woman wanted in Chile on kidnapping charges dating to Pinochet's military dictatorship in the 1970s, can be extradited. She was wanted for kidnapping seven people in 1976 and 1977, including Communist party leader Victor Diaz. The alleged victims have never been found.
(SFC, 10/30/20, p.A2)
2020 Nov 16, South Australia reported 14 new coronavirus cases, a rapid spike in the state's first outbreak since April, prompting officials to impose social distancing restrictions.
(Reuters, 11/16/20)
2020 Nov 17, The leaders of Australia and Japan reached an agreement on a bilateral defense pact that would allow their troops to work more closely.
(SFC, 11/18/20, p.A2)
2020 Nov 18, Australia’s military said Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan over an 11-year period (2005-2016). It is a rare public accounting of abuses in distant war zones. Commanders had ordered junior soldiers to execute prisoners so they could record their first “kill." Adolescents, farmers and other noncombatants were shot dead in circumstances clearly outside the heat of battle.
(AP, 11/18/20)
2020 Nov 23, Australian scientists pushed to list the platypus as a vulnerable species after a report showed the habitat of the semi-aquatic native mammal had shrunk more than a fifth in the last 30 years.
(Reuters, 11/23/20)
2020 Nov 25, Iran released Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who has been detained in the country for over two years on espionage charges, in exchange for three Iranian prisoners who were being held abroad.
(AP, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 26, "Henri’s Armchair," a painting by famed Australian artist Brett Whiteley (1939-1992) sold at auction for A$6.25 million ($4.6 million), setting a new record in the country and underscoring the appeal of art investments amid the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 11/27/20)
2020 Dec 1, Australia national science agency said a powerful new telescope in the outback has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries.
(Reuters, 12/1/20)
2020 Dec 2, The International Union for Conservation of Nature said climate change is increasingly damaging the UN’s most cherished heritage sites, reporting that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and dozens of other natural wonders are facing severe threats.
(AP, 12/2/20)
2020 Dec 10, Australian scientists said they had developed a rapid genome sequencing method that would cut to within four hours the time taken to trace the source of coronavirus cases, helping to quickly contain any future outbreaks.
(Reuters, 12/10/20)
2020 Dec 11, Australian researchers announced they had abandoned development of a potential vaccine because the false positive results to HIV tests undermined public confidence.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 14, PM Jacinda Ardern announced that the New Zealand government intends to establish a travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of next year.
(NY Times, 12/14/20)
2020 Dec 16, Israel’s justice minister said he has signed an extradition order to send former teacher Malka Leifer to Australia to face charges of child sex abuse.
(AP, 12/16/20)
2020 Dec 19, In Australia a quarter million people in Sydney's northern beach suburbs were ordered into a strict lockdown until Christmas Eve to help contain a coronavirus cluster with authorities fearing it may spread across Australia's most populous city.
(Reuters, 12/19/20)
2020 Dec 20, Sydney was isolated from the rest of Australia after all of the country's states and territories imposed travel restrictions on its residents as a coronavirus cluster in the city grew to around 70. New South Wales recorded 30 new coronavirus cases overnight.
(Reuters, 12/20/20)
2020 Dec 21, Australia said it had detected cases of the new fast-spreading coronavirus strain identified in the UK, while Hong Kong and India said they would suspend flights from Britain. Authorities say a new strain of the coronavirus in Sydney's north most likely originated in the United States, but how it got from the airport to the community remains a puzzle.
(Reuters, 12/21/20)
2021 Jan 1, Australia changed a lyric in its national anthem from “we are young and free" to “we are one and free" to recognize Indigenous populations that have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years.
(NY Times, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 3, Australia's New South Wales state recorded eight new local cases. There are 161 active cases in the state, most of them in the northern beaches of Sydney, and 13 emanating from liquor store that are not connected to the beaches cluster. More Australian states and territories are reimposing travel restrictions to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus from new outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 4, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) sate reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands of people to get tested.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 9, Australia's health officials said they are on high alert after cases of highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus, discovered in Britain and South Africa, have made it into the country.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 10, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state recorded three new coronavirus cases as a three-week lockdown for about quarter million of people in Sydney's northern beaches suburbs eased.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, The foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, Canada and the USA issued a joint statement expressing "serious concern" about the arrest of 55 democracy advocates in Hong Kong last week.
(SFC, 1/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 13, Australia’s financial intelligence agency admitted it vastly misreported the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia over the past six years by nearly $1.5 billion. The miscalculation was believed to have resulted from a computer coding error.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 21, It was reported that Google and Facebook Inc have granted an Australian local government news provider status, drawing questions about the internet giants' efforts to curate news media.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 24, Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen to press on with its vaccination campaign from next month.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 25, Australia's medical regulator approved use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 25, Israeli authorities extradited Malka Leifer (54), a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, capping a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments and antagonized Australia's Jewish community.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Feb 3, Australian authorities said more than 70 homes have been lost in a wildfire outside the western city of Perth that is expected to continue burning for days.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that the US government has awarded a $231 million contract to scale up production of a COVID-19 test from Australian manufacturer Ellume that allows users to swab themselves at home and check their status in about 20 minutes.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 5, In Australia Tech giant Google launched a platform offering news it has paid for, striking its own content deals with publishers in a drive to show legislation proposed by Canberra to enforce payments, a world first, is unnecessary.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, China formally arrested Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 6, Australia's foreign ministry said in a statement late today that it was "deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar." Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, said in a message that he was being detained.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 14, It was reported that Australia's Seven West Media Ltd has become the country's first major news outlet to strike a licensing deal with Google, as the government pushes ahead with a law that would force the internet giant to pay media companies for content.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, It was reported that parts of southeastern Australia have been overrun by mice. The pests in rural New South Walews have spread into Queensland, Victoria and South Australia dued to abundant rainfall and a good harvest.
(SSFC, 2/14/21, p.B8)
2021 Feb 15, Australia received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine as more than 142,000 doses arrived at Sydney airport.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 18, Facebook blocked all news in Australia as the country prepared to make tech companies pay for the news on their platforms.
(NY Times, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 22, Facebook said that it would restore the sharing and viewing of news links in Australia after gaining more time to negotiate over a proposed law that would require it to pay for news content that appears on its site.
(NY Times, 2/22/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that a shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia has been blocked from leaving the EU in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to make sure big pharma companies would respect their contracts.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 6, In Australia the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sidney went ahead at the Sidney Cricket Ground. Up tp 23,000 spectators were allowed in the stands while performers paraded on the field.
(SSFC, 3/7/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 15, In Australia more than 100,000 people took to the streets in dozens of rallies across the country to protest violence against women and the government’s handling of two rape cases involving high-level political figures.
(The Telegraph, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 17, Australia said it will send COVID-19 vaccines from its own supply to Papua New Guinea and will ask AstraZeneca to send 8,000 doses to contain a concerning wave of infections.
(SFC, 3/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 20, Australia's east coast was smashed by heavy rains, sparking dangerous flash flooding that forced the evacuation of multiple regions as the fast-moving waters unmoored houses, engulfed roads, stranded towns and cut power lines.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 21, Australia's most populous state of New South Wales issued more evacuation orders following the worst flooding in decades.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 28, Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment was unable to air its news bulletin from its Sydney headquarters due to "technical difficulties" which a source with knowledge of the matter blamed on a suspected cyber attack.
(Reuters, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 29, Australia's professional sports leagues scrambled to put contingency plans in place after Queensland authorities announced a snap three-day lockdown in state capital Brisbane to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti (78), known for elegant designs and efforts to empower women over more than half a century, died after a fall in Sydney.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 4, Australians celebrated Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted manner as the country reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 8, Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, while the Africa Union dropped plans to buy the shot, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 9, Australia said that it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 16, Australia reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) Covid-19 shot. It was the third case of the rare blood clots appearing in people who have been administered the vaccine in the country.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 21, Australia cancelled two deals struck by its state of Victoria with China on Beijing's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, prompting the Chinese embassy in Canberra to warn that already tense bilateral ties were bound to worsen.
(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 28, In Australia Richard Pusey (42), speeding driver, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for offenses including what a judge described as the "heartless, cruel and disgraceful" filming of four dead and dying police officers who had just been hit by a truck on a freeway.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 May 11, The Australian government released a big-spending economic plan for the next fiscal year that includes hefty investments in defense and national security as relations with China worsen.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, A new analysis by an Australian think tank said Xinjiang in far western China had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 12, Australia tapped Moderna Inc for 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, as it tries to speed up vaccination in people under 50 after deciding against AstraZeneca, whose jab has been linked to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 25, Australia's city of Melbourne increased pandemic restrictions after identifying a cluster from someone infected in quarantine. Restrictions will apply until June 4.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 30, Australia's Victoria state reported five new local COVID-19 cases, including in a worker at a Melbourne aged care facility where not all of the residents have been vaccinated.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, It was reported that farmers in Australia's New South Wales state were being threatened by an unprecedented mouse plague. The state government has ordered 1,320 gallons of the banned poison Bromadiolone from India.
(SSFC, 5/30/21, p.A8)
2021 Jun 12, Australia's Victoria state, which emerged from a strict lockdown earlier this week, recorded one new community case of COVID-19. The outbreak, which triggered the two-week snap lockdown late last month, has now seen 91 cases since May 24.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 15, Australia and Britain announced that they have agreed a trade deal - the first negotiated from scratch post-Brexit.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 18, A former Australian spy was convicted over his unconfirmed role as a whistleblower who revealed an espionage operation against the government of East Timor in 2004. The Canberra court registry listed him as “Witness K".
(AP, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, Australia's largest state New South Wales (NSW) recorded two locally acquired coronavirus cases, as concerns grow over the further spread of infections amid an increase in exposure sites.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 22, The United Nations said the Great Barrier Reef has suffered such extensive damage that it should be listed as "in danger." The warning prompted an immediate rejection from the Australian government.
(CBS News, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 24, In Australia a cluster of highly contagious delta variant coronavirus cases in Sydney grew to 36. The cluster spread from a Sydney airport limousine driver who tested positive last week. He was not vaccinated, reportedly did not wear a mask and is suspected to have been infected while transporting a foreign air crew.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 26, Australian officials introduced a strict two-week lockdown for all of greater Sydney as an outbreak of the Delta variant spreads rapidly.
(NY Times, 6/26/21)
2021 Jun 27, Australia lowered its projections for population and economic growth over the next 40 years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reuters, 6/27/21)
2021 Jun 28, Australia was battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days. Coronavirus cases in Sydney grew by 18 and now stand at 130. It is the worst outbreak the city has seen since last year. Other states across Australia also reported a handful of new cases, threatening the nation’s successful control of a virus.
(AP, 6/28/21)(NY Times, 6/28/21)
2021 Jul 4, Australia's New South Wales state reported a fall in new daily coronavirus cases, following two days of record 2021 infections. Officials implored Sydney residents to follow rules so they could end a lockdown next week.
(Reuters, 7/4/21)
2021 Jul 7, Sydney’s two-week lockdown was extended for another week due to the vulnerability of an Australia population largely unvaccinated against COVID-19.
(AP, 7/7/21)
2021 Jul 11, Australia reported its first locally contracted COVID-19 death of the year and a 2021 record 77 new cases of the virus in the state of New South Wales, which is battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
(Reuters, 7/11/21)
2021 Jul 12, Australian health officials reported yet another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases for the year, fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant. New South Wales state reported 112 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, almost all of them in Sydney, despite the country's biggest city entering its third week of lockdown. Case numbers have been at record levels for at least three days.
(Reuters, 7/12/21)
2021 Jul 15, Australia's state of Victoria was ordered into a five-day lockdown following a spike in COVID-19 infections, joining Sydney as the country's two main population hubs battle an outbreak of the Delta variant.
(Reuters, 7/15/21)
2021 Jul 23, Australia garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations’ cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change.
(AP, 7/23/21)
2021 Jul 23, Australia's New South Wales state reported its biggest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney and a request for additional vaccine doses that was rebuffed by other state leaders.
(Reuters, 7/23/21)
2021 Jul 24, New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 163 locally acquired cases of COVID-19, its biggest daily rise, up from 136 a day earlier, in a worsening outbreak that has led to an urgent push to speed up vaccinations.
(Reuters, 7/24/21)
2021 Jul 25, Australia's New South Wales logged its second-highest daily increase of the year in locally acquired COVID-19 cases amid fears of a wave of new infections after thousands of people joined an anti-lockdown protest.
(Reuters, 7/25/21)
2021 Jul 28, Australia's biggest city, Sydney, extended a lockdown by four weeks after an already protracted stay-at-home order failed to douse an outbreak, with authorities warning of tougher policing to stamp out non-compliance.
(Reuters, 7/28/21)
2021 Jul 29, Australia's Sky News was issued a one-week suspension by YouTube after a review of its content allegedly denied the existence of Covid-19 or encouraged people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat the coronavirus, without providing countervailing context.
(Reuters, 7/31/21)
2021 Jul 31, In Australia coronavirus cases continued to surge in Sydney as police cordoned off the city's central district, preventing a planned anti-lockdown protest from taking place.
(Reuters, 7/31/21)
2021 Aug 2, Australia tightened COVID curbs. Queensland state extended a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, while soldiers began patrolling Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules as Australia struggles to stop the highly contagious Delta variant spreading.
(Reuters, 8/2/21)
2021 Aug 8, Australia's three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland reported a total of 282 COVID-19 new locally acquired infections, with authorities struggling to quell outbreaks of the Delta variant.
(Reuters, 8/8/21)
2021 Aug 9, Australia expanded a COVID-19 lockdown to a rural town and the coastal region of Byron Bay, as fears grew that the virus has spread from Sydney to the northern tip of the country's most populous state.
(Reuters, 8/9/21)
2021 Aug 11, Melbourne, Australia, extended its 6th lockdown for a 2nd week in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of COVID-19.
(SFC, 8/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Aug 13, In Australia a government leader said Canberra will remain locked down until there are no more COVID-19 infections in the city.
(SFC, 8/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Aug 14, Australia's state of New South Wales reported a record 466 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, as the country's most populous state remained in tight lockdown. Police hiked fines for people breaking lockdown rules in Sydney and the rest of its home state.
(Reuters, 8/14/21)
2021 Aug 15, Australia said it had purchased about 1 million doses of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine from Poland to supplement its inoculation drive in Sydney and its home state amid record new infections.
(Reuters, 8/15/21)
2021 Aug 16, In Australia New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said seven people in Sydney had died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing the state's previous record daily toll.
(AP, 8/16/21)
2021 Aug 20, In Australia lockdown of Sidney, now in its eighth week, was extended until the end of September, with residents told to wear masks outdoors, except for exercise. New South Wales reported 644 new infections, while southeastern Victoria state, home to Melbourne, recorded 55.
(AP, 8/20/21)
2021 Aug 21, In Australia more than 250 people were arrested for during protests against coronavirus lockdowns. Many faced fines for defying health orders.
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.A8)
2021 Aug 24, Australia's pandemic modelling adviser said the government can proceed with its reopening plans when the country reaches 70%-80% vaccination levels, even as some states hinted they may not ease border curbs if Sydney fails to control its Delta outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/24/21)
2021 Aug 25, Sydney's COVID-19 infections hit a daily record, putting parts of the health system under pressure. Sydney reported 919 new cases amid a growing Delta variant outbreak, taking Australia's daily case numbers to a new pandemic high just below 1,000.
(Reuters, 8/25/21)
2021 Aug 27, Australia's New South Wales state recorded 882 new cases and two deaths, most of them in state capital Sydney, as officials struggle to quell the Delta outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/27/21)
2021 Aug 28, Australia reported a record 1,126 coronavirus infectious, the vast majority in New South Wales, the epicenter of the Delta-fuelled outbreak.
(Reuters, 8/28/21)
2021 Aug 29, Australia logged a record 1,323 local COVID-19 cases. New South Wales, reported a record 1,218 locally acquired COVID-19 infections, exceeding the previous day's record of 1,035.
(Reuters, 8/29/21)
2021 Aug 30, Australia reported four fatalities, taking the total death toll from COVID-19 to 1,003, as infections surged to successive record highs above 1,200 a day. Just over 33% of those aged 16 and older have received two vaccine doses.
(Reuters, 8/30/21)
2021 Aug 31, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will receive 500,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Singapore this week, after Canberra agreed a swap deal in a bid to curtail surging coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 8/31/21)
2021 Sep 1, Australian authorities extended the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne for another three weeks, as they shift their focus to rapid vaccination drives and move away from a suppression strategy to bring cases down to zero.
(Reuters, 9/1/21)
2021 Sep 3, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will receive an additional 4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine this month after agreeing a swap deal with Britain, to help accelerate its vaccination program amid a record surge in infections.
(Reuters, 9/3/21)
2021 Sep 4, Australia reported 1,756 infections, another record high, and officials warned that worse is yet to come, urging people to get vaccinated.
(Reuters, 9/4/21)
2021 Sep 5, Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus as authorities raced ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast.
(Reuters, 9/5/21)
2021 Sep 5, In Australia a surfer was fatally bitten by a shark in Coff's Harbor off the eastern coast.
(SFC, 9/6/21, p.A4)
2021 Sep 6, Australia's state of New South Wales reported 1,281 new coronavirus cases, most of them in Sydney, down from 1,485 a day earlier. Five new deaths were recorded. Victoria state, which includes Melbourne, reported 246 new cases, its biggest daily rise of the year.
(Reuters, 9/6/21)
2021 Sep 7, In Australia COVID-19 daily infections in Sydney fell for a third straight day but still lingered near record levels as the outbreak spurred a spike in vaccination rates in the hard-hit western suburbs of Australia's largest city.
(Reuters, 9/7/21)
2021 Sep 8, Australia's High Court ruled that news publishers, including Rupert Murdoch's the Australian, are responsible for comments that readers post on their corporate Facebook pages.
(Reuters, 9/8/21)
2021 Sep 10, Australia's COVID-19 daily cases topped 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic as an outbreak fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant continued to gain ground in locked-down Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities.
(Reuters, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 11, Australia and India vowed to deepen their security cooperation, especially following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, as the world marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
(Reuters, 9/11/21)
2021 Sep 11, Australia posted 2,077 infections, surpassing the previous day's record of 1,903. Queensland, Australia's third most populous state, said it may order a snap lockdown after a cluster of COVID-19 cases, as the country posted a record one-day rise in daily infections.
(Reuters, 9/11/21)
2021 Sep 12, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has purchased an additional 1 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine from the European Union, as the country accelerates its inoculation program to fight record high infections.
(Reuters, 9/12/21)
2021 Sep 13, The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations had slowed as first-dose coverage neared 80% and urged the unvaccinated to get shots soon or risk missing out on freedoms when curbs ease.
(Reuters, 9/13/21)
2021 Sep 15, The Biden administration took a major step in challenging China’s broad territorial claims in the Pacific, announcing that the United States and Britain would help Australia to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western presence in the region. Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under an Indo-Pacific security partnership.
(NY Times, 9/16/21)(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 16, Australia's Victoria state reported its biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases of the year as a surge in vaccinations nationwide raised hope for easing restrictions with almost 70% of the adult population having had a first dose.
(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 16, China denounced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, saying such partnerships should not target third countries and warning of an intensified arms race in the region.
(Reuters, 9/16/21)
2021 Sep 18, Australia's police arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney at unsanctioned anti-lockdown rallies and several police officers were injured in clashes with protesters.
(Reuters, 9/18/21)
2021 Sep 18, Malaysia expressed concerns that Australia's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under a new pact with Britain and the United States could catalyze a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region.
(Reuters, 9/18/21)
2021 Sep 19, Australia reported 1,607 new coronavirus cases as states and territories gradually shift from trying to eliminate outbreaks to living with the virus.
(Reuters, 9/19/21)
2021 Sep 20, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state reported its lowest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks as some lockdown restrictions were eased in Sydney amid higher vaccination levels. 935 new cases were detected in the state, the lowest daily tally since Aug. 27, and down from 1,083 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 9/20/21)
2021 Sep 21, The Australian Koala Foundation said Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas over the past three years, hit by drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees.
(Reuters, 9/21/21)
2021 Sep 22, Police in Australia's second largest city of Melbourne arrested more than 200 people after projectiles thrown by protesters injured two officers, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against COVID-19 curbs.
(Reuters, 9/22/21)
2021 Sep 22, In Australia a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne. There were no reports of serious injuries.
(Reuters, 9/22/21)
2021 Sep 24, Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia vowed to pursue a free and open Indo-Pacific region "undaunted by coercion" at their first in-person summit, which presented a united front amid shared concerns about China.
(Reuters, 9/25/21)
2021 Sep 25, Australia's Victoria state notched up a daily record of 847 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one death, as health officials warned the public to stay home ahead of a major national sporting final.
(Reuters, 9/25/21)
2021 Sep 26, Australia's Victoria state reported 779 new COVID-19 infections and two deaths, off the previous day's record high as the country's PM Scott Morrison pressed state leaders to be ready to reopen once they meet vaccination targets.
(Reuters, 9/26/21)
2021 Sep 27, Australian authorities announced plans to gradually reopen locked-down Sydney, unveiling a two-tiered system that will give inoculated citizens more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbors for several weeks.
(Reuters, 9/27/21)
2021 Sep 29, An Australian think tank said Chinese language community news groups in Australia are publishing news censored by translators they use in China to avoid potential repercussions in Beijing.
(Reuters, 9/29/21)
2021 Oct 1, The premier of Australia's biggest state economy New South Wales (NSW), Gladys Berejiklian, resigned after a corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct that "constituted or involved a breach of public trust".
(Reuters, 10/1/21)
2021 Oct 1, Senior Russian envoy Sergei Ryabkov said President Vladimir Putin is no longer interested in a joint freeze of nuclear weapons production with the United States. Ryabkov protested American inspections requests and a recent agreement to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
(Washington Examiner, 10/2/21)
2021 Oct 2, Australia reported 2,357 new cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, as the push to vaccinate the country's population continues in order to end lockdowns and allow for the reopening of international borders.
(Reuters, 10/2/21)
2021 Oct 3, Australia reported more than 1,900 new infections of the Delta coronavirus, with authorities struggling to quell the outbreak in the two most populous states and cases spreading to new states.
(Reuters, 10/3/21)
2021 Oct 5, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will buy 300,000 courses of Merck & Co's experimental antiviral pill, as Victoria logged the highest number of daily infections of any state in the country since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 10/5/21)
2021 Oct 7, Australia-based BHP Group, the world's largest listed mining company, announced that from the end of January all workers and visitors entering its workplaces in Australia will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 10/7/21)
2021 Oct 11, In Australia the Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub, opened one hour early to welcome back its regulars after the city emerged from a more than 100-day lockdown, allowing COVID-19 vaccinated locals to enjoy new freedoms including a morning beer.
(Reuters, 10/11/21)
2021 Oct 16, In Australia thousands of Sydney residents flocked to a prominent horse race, as the country's biggest city emerges from a strict COVID-19 lockdown and the nation begins to live with the coronavirus through extensive vaccination.
(Reuters, 10/16/21)
2021 Oct 20, A report from the Climate Council said Australia ranks dead last among comparable nations in addressing the climate challenge at its source — by cutting emissions.
(AP, 10/20/21)
2021 Oct 27, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed during a summit to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership between them.
(Reuters, 10/27/21)
2021 Oct 30, In Australia 76.8% of those 16 and older were fully vaccinated.
(Reuters, 10/30/21)
2021 Nov 1, Australia’s government said it will introduce two permanent residence visas for Hong Kong citizens who have been living in Australia.
(Reuters, 11/1/21)
2021 Nov 1, Australia, Israel and Thailand eased international border restrictions significantly for the first time in 18 months, offering a broad test of demand for travel worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 11/1/21)
2021 Nov 4, Australia charged Terence Darrell Kelly (36) with various offenses related to the abduction of Cleo Smith (4), who was recently found after an 18-day search following her disappearance from a family tent.
(SFC, 11/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Nov 6, Australia reached a full inoculation rate of 80% of those aged 16 and older, which PM Scott Morrison called a "magnificent milestone" on the path to becoming one of the world's most vaccinated countries against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 11/6/21)
2021 Nov 6, More than 1,000 people demonstrated in Australia's biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne to protest against the government's climate policies and the strategies it offered at a UN climate summit in Glasgow.
(Reuters, 11/6/21)
2021 Nov 8, Cambodia PM Hun Sen said Australia has pledged more than three million COVID-19 vaccine doses helping the Southeast nation give booster shots to its people.
(Reuters, 11/8/21)
2021 Nov 9, Australia’s PM Scott Morrison announced plans to encourage people to buy electric vehicles weeks after his government was accused at a UN conference in Scotland of being a laggard in fighting climate change.
(AP, 11/9/21)
2021 Nov 16, Google said it will spend A$1 billion ($736 million) in Australia over five years, resetting ties months after a threat to pull its services to avoid tougher government regulation.
(Reuters, 11/16/21)
2021 Nov 17, Law enforcement agencies in the US, Britain, and Australia issued a joint statement labeling an Iran-sponsored group as a serious threat to cyber security.
(Fox News, 11/17/21)
2021 Nov 22, It was reported that the Minderoo Foundation, owned by Andrew Forrest, chairman of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, plans to help 18 small publishers by applying to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on their behalf so they can negotiate together without breaching competition laws to secure licensing deals with Google and Facebook.
(Reuters, 11/22/21)
2021 Nov 24, Australia classified neo-Nazi organization The Base and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, as terrorist organizations.
(Reuters, 11/24/21)
2021 Nov 25, Australia announced it is sending police, troops and diplomats to the Solomon Islands to help after anti-government demonstrators defied lockdown orders and took to the streets for a second day in violent protests.
(AP, 11/25/21)
2021 Nov 26, Australia said it was investigating the newly identified COVID-19 variant spreading in South Africa and warned it may close its borders to travelers from the African nation if risks from the new strain rise.
(Reuters, 11/26/21)
2021 Nov 26, In the Solomon Islands more than a hundred people looted shops, before Australian Federal Police officers arrived. Australian police began taking control of hotspots following three days of violent protests in the South Pacific island nation.
(Reuters, 11/26/21)
2021 Nov 27, Australia and several other countries joined nations imposing restrictions on travel from southern Africa after the discovery of the new Omicron coronavirus variant sparked global concern and triggered a sell-off on financial markets.
(Reuters, 11/27/21)
2021 Nov 28, Australia confirmed that two people arriving from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant, adding to a growing number of countries fighting the highly infectious strain.
(Reuters, 11/28/21)
2021 Nov 30, Australian authorities confirmed a person with COVID-19 had the new Omicron variant after disclosing that the person had been active in the community, but urged calm as they weighed up the severity of the strain.
(Reuters, 11/30/21)
2021 Dec 2, Australia's tally of people with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 edged higher, prompting state governments to bolster domestic border controls as health experts wait to learn more about the dangers posed by the strain. New South Wales reported its seventh case of the variant, a person who arrived on Nov. 23 from Doha, Qatar, and noted that the person had not been in southern Africa, suggesting they caught the virus on the flight.
(Reuters, 12/2/21)
2021 Dec 4, The Omicron coronavirus variant spread in Australia, testing plans to reopen the economy as a cluster in Sydney grew to 13 cases and an infection was suspected in the state of Queensland.
(Reuters, 12/4/21)
2021 Dec 8, Australia and Britain said they will join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, as other allies weighed similar moves to protest at China's human rights record.
(Reuters, 12/8/21)
2021 Dec 10, The US announced that Australia, Denmark and Norway would join it in an effort to curb technology exports to governments that use the products for repression. Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom also supported the move.
(Reuters, 12/10/21)
2021 Dec 12, It was reported that the drought and heat waves that led to the huge wildfires in southern Australia in 2019 and 2020 have killed up to 60% of the trees that escaped the blazes.
(SSFC, 12/12/21, p.B12)
2021 Dec 13, Australia signed a A$1 billion ($716.5 million) defence deal with South Korea, boosting Seoul's efforts to grow its military exports.
(Reuters, 12/13/21)
2021 Dec 14, A World Trade Organization panel ruled in favor of Brazil, Australia and Guatemala in their trade disputes with India over sugar subsidies and asked New Delhi to conform with global rules.
(Reuters, 12/14/21)
2021 Dec 15, Australia reopened borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students after a nearly two-year ban on their entry, in a bid to boost an economy hit by stop-start COVID-19 lockdowns.
(Reuters, 12/15/21)
2021 Dec 15, In Australia four children were killed and several more badly injured after strong winds lifted an inflated jumping castle into the air during end-of-year school celebrations, causing them to fall 10 meters (33 feet) in Devonport, Tasmania state. Four days later a boy (11) died from the accident, taking the death toll from the tragedy to six children.
(Reuters, 12/16/21)(Reuters, 12/19/21)
2021 Dec 16, Australia-based Qantas Airways picked Airbus as the preferred supplier to replace its domestic fleet, switching from Boeing in a major win for the European plane maker that also triggered an upheaval in engine supplies.
(Reuters, 12/16/21)
2021 Dec 18, Australia reported record high new COVID-19 cases for a third day, with outbreaks growing in the two most populous states, however Prime Minister Scott Morrison continued to downplay the risks as the country eases pandemic curbs.
(Reuters, 12/18/21)
2021 Dec 19, A light plane crashed into waters off Australia's east coast this morning, killing all four people on board including two children.
(Reuters, 12/19/21)
2021 Dec 26, Australia’s state of New South Wales reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases and a sharp jump in hospitalizations while thousands of people were isolating at home after contracting the virus or coming into contact with someone who has.
(AP, 12/26/21)
2021 Dec 27, Australia reported its first confirmed death from the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 amid its biggest daily surge in infections, but the authorities refrained from imposing new restrictions saying hospitalization rates remained low.
(Reuters, 12/27/21)
2021 Dec, Elon Musk's Tesla company signed an agreement with Australia's Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world’s largest graphite mines in Mozambique. Tesla will buy the material from the company's processing plant in Vidalia, Louisiana, which sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique.
(AP, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 1, Australia started 2022 with a record number of new COVID-19 cases as an outbreak centered in the eastern states grew, and New South Wales eased its isolation rules for healthcare workers as the number of people hospitalized with the virus rose. New South Wales and Victoria both posted daily record case numbers of 22,577 and 7,442 respectively.
(Reuters, 1/1/22)
2022 Jan 2, New Australian COVID-19 cases dipped as testing slowed over a holiday weekend, but remained well over 30,000 and hospitalizations rose further in New South Wales as concerns grow about potential strains on the national health system.
(Reuters, 1/2/22)
2022 Jan 4, Australian COVID-19 cases soared to a pandemic record as the Omicron variant ripped through most of the country, driving up hospitalization rates as the once-formidable testing regime buckled under lengthy wait times and stock shortages.
(Reuters, 1/4/22)
2022 Jan 6, Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 men’s tennis player from Serbia, was told to leave Australia after a 10-hour standoff at a Melbourne airport. He remained in the country as he waited out a legal appeal over the validity of his visa and questions about the evidence supporting a medical exemption from a coronavirus vaccine.
(NY Times, 1/6/22)
2022 Jan 6, Australia and Japan hailed a new agreement to cooperate closely on defence as a breakthrough and a landmark, in the latest step to bolster security ties against the backdrop of rising Chinese military and economic might.
(Reuters, 1/6/22)
2022 Jan 7, In Australia Czech Renata Voracova (38) became the second Australian Open participant to be held in detention in a sweep by authorities on players entering the country with vaccination exemptions. Voracova decided to leave the country.
(Reuters, 1/7/22)
2022 Jan 8, Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths as the Omicron variant sweeps the country and lawmakers face pressure to close widening supply chain gaps.
(Reuters, 1/9/22)
2022 Jan 10, PM Scott Morrison said Australia must "push through" the fast-moving Omicron outbreak, as infections surpassed 1 million, more than half in the past week alone.
(Reuters, 1/10/22)
2022 Jan 10, An Australian judge ordered the release of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic from immigration detention. He has refused to be vaccinated for Covid-19, but had been cleared to play with a vaccination exemption.
(NY Times, 1/10/22)
2022 Jan 12, Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s tennis player, acknowledged that a travel document he presented to Australian border officials last week contained false information, as the country’s authorities continued to investigate whether he should be deported. Djokovic said he had participated in an interview and a photo shoot even after testing positive for the coronavirus, in an apparent violation of rules in his native Serbia.
(NY Times, 1/12/22)
2022 Jan 14, Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis star, had his visa revoked for a second time by the Australian authorities.
(NY Times, 1/14/22)
2022 Jan 16, Novak Djokovic’s last-ditch attempt to salvage his hopes of defending his Australian Open title failed, with judges ruling that Australia’s immigration minister was within his rights to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa for a second time on the basis that the player could pose a risk to public health and order. Serbia's premier and Novak Djokovic's family denounced as "scandalous" Australia's deportation of the tennis star for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.
(NY Times, 1/16/22)(Reuters, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 16, Australia's daily coronavirus infections fell below 100,000 for the first time in five days.
(Reuters, 1/16/22)
2022 Jan 17, The Australian government and human rights groups said they are concerned about the deteriorating health of Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, three years after he was detained in China, and with a Beijing court yet to deliver a verdict in an espionage trial heard in secrecy eight months ago.
(Reuters, 1/17/22)
2022 Jan 18, Australia suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic as a fast-moving Omicron outbreak continued to push up hospitalization rates to record levels, even as daily infections eased slightly. 77 deaths were recorded.
(Reuters, 1/18/22)
2022 Jan 22, Three flights from Australia arrived in Tonga carrying food, water and medical supplies and telecommunications equipment as the country grappled with the aftermath of the Jan. 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami.
(SSFC, 1/23/22, p.A8)
2022 Jan 25, Australia recorded one of its highest number of deaths in a day from COVID-19 as an outbreak of the highly-infections Omicron variant tore through the country which marked two years since its first infection of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/25/22)
2022 Jan 25, Australian authorities said about two dozen cases of COVID-19 have been recorded among the crew of an Australian warship expected to arrive in coronavirus-free Tonga on Jan. 26 to deliver humanitarian aid.
(Reuters, 1/25/22)
2022 Jan 26, In Australia thousands rallied against the mistreatment of Indigenous people across the country as citizenship ceremonies took place to mark the country's national day intended to celebrate the birth of modern Australia.
(Reuters, 1/26/22)
2022 Jan 28, Australia suffered its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic with nearly 100 deaths, but several large states said they expect hospital admissions to fall amid hopes that the latest wave of infections would begin to subside.
(Reuters, 1/28/22)
2022 Jan 28, Australia's government pledged to spend another $1 billion Australian dollars ($704 million US) over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
(SFC, 1/29/22, p.A2)
2022 Jan 29, Australia's government said it will spend an additional A$50 million ($35 million) in the next four years to protect koala habitat and slow the decline of the vulnerable species.
(Reuters, 1/29/22)
2022 Jan 29, In Australia Ashleigh Barty (25) defeated Danielle Collins (28), becoming the first Australian player to win the tennis singles title since 1978.
(AP, 1/29/22)
2022 Jan 30, Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open men’s final. It’s his 21st Grand Slam title, a record in men’s singles.
(NY Times, 1/30/22)
2022 Jan 31, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said the federal government will offer extra payments to aged care staff as over 1,200 nursing homes deal with COVID-19 outbreaks that have caused hundreds of deaths of elderly residents this year and staff shortages.
(Reuters, 1/31/22)
2022 Jan 31, Australia reported its lowest daily COVID-19 deaths in two weeks while cases continued to trend lower as authorities braced for staff shortages in schools due to likely outbreaks as thousands of students return after their summer break.
(Reuters, 1/31/22)
2022 Feb 1, Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto released an 85-page internal report with admissions of sexual assault, racism and bullying.
(Reuters, 2/2/22)
2022 Feb 11, In Australia foreign ministers of the so-called Quad group (the United States, Australia, Japan and India) pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion", a thinly veiled swipe at China's economic and military expansion.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 11, Australian media reported that Chinese spies sought to fund candidates for Australia's center-left Labor opposition party in an upcoming federal election but the plot was foiled by the national security agency.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 11, Australia listed koalas along much of its east coast as endangered after the native marsupial's habitats were hit by prolonged drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees.
(Reuters, 2/11/22)
2022 Feb 12, In Australia and New Zealand days-long rallies against COVID-19 vaccination mandates picked up in numbers with protesters blocking roads and disrupting life in the countries' capitals.
(Reuters, 2/12/22)
2022 Feb 13, Preliminary reports indicated that Australian PM Scott Morrison's Liberal Party suffered a major upset in New South Wales state's by-elections.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 13, Australia said it was evacuating its embassy in Kyiv as the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border deteriorated quickly, with PM Scott Morrison calling on China to not remain "chillingly silent" on the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 13, In Australia several thousand protesters remained in place at Canberra's major showgrounds, while fewer than 100 demonstrators were gathered near the federal parliament building. Police have given thousands of protesters until the end of today to leave occupied areas of the country’s capital, as days-long rallies continue against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
(Reuters, 2/13/22)
2022 Feb 15, In Australia thousands of nurses in New South Wales walked off the job for the first time in nearly a decade to begin a 24-hour strike after talks with the government to plug staff shortages and secure a pay rise failed.
(Reuters, 2/15/22)
2022 Feb 16, In Australia a shark killed a swimmer off a Sydney beach in the city's first fatal attack in nearly 60 years.
(Reuters, 2/16/22)
2022 Feb 16, Brazil-based Embraer said its electric aircraft subsidiary Eve has received orders from Australian charter firms Aviair, HeliSpirit and Microflite for up to 90 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs).
(Reuters, 2/16/22)
2022 Feb 18, Australia's New South Wales state ordered employers of freelance delivery drivers such as Amazon.com Inc to pay a minimum rate, a decision hailed by a union as making it the world's first jurisdiction to compel the retailer to follow laws on such payments. The measure, to be phased in over three years from March 1, requires companies which hire drivers with their own small vehicles to pay a minimum of A$37.80 ($27.20) per hour.
(Reuters, 2/18/22)
2022 Feb 19, Australia's Defense Department said a Chinese navy vessel had directed a laser at an Australian military aircraft in flight over Australia's northern approaches, illuminating the plane and potentially endangering lives.
(Reuters, 2/19/22)
2022 Feb 19, Australia recorded 43 coronavirus-related deaths, as it readies to welcome international tourists on Feb. 21 for the first time in nearly two years.
(Reuters, 2/19/22)
2022 Feb 21, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said a Chinese naval vessel that pointed a laser at an Australian military aircraft was so close to Australia's coast that it could have been seen from the shore, and urged a full Chinese investigation.
(Reuters, 2/21/22)
2022 Feb 21, Australia fully reopened its international borders to travelers vaccinated against the coronavirus after nearly two years of pandemic-related closings as tourists returned and hundreds of people were reunited with family and friends.
(Reuters, 2/21/22)
2022 Feb 22, PM Scott Morrison said Australia will spend just over A$804 million ($578 million) to buy drones and helicopters and set up mobile stations in Antarctica to strengthen Australia's national interests.
(Reuters, 2/22/22)
2022 Feb 27, A severe storm system pummeled Australia's northeastern city of Brisbane, causing evacuations, power outages and school closures as the death toll climbed to nine from accompanying flash floods.
(Reuters, 2/27/22)(NY Times, 2/28/22)
2022 Feb 28, An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report bluntly stated that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in crisis and suffering grave impacts from climate change, with frequent and severe coral bleaching caused by warming ocean temperatures.
(AP, 2/28/22)
2022 Mar 1, PM Scott Morrison said Australia has committed A$70 million ($50 million) to fund lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine, including missiles and ammunition.
(Reuters, 3/1/22)
2022 Mar 1, In eastern Australia military helicopters airlifted stranded people from rooftops of flooded neighborhoods and a tenth victim was found following days of torrential rain as the wild weather slowly shifts south toward Sydney.
(Reuters, 3/1/22)
2022 Mar 3, Authorities in Australia issued more orders for people to leave their homes after heavy rain triggered flash floods in its largest city, with officials warning of worse to come and some 500,000 people likely to face orders to evacuate.
(Reuters, 3/3/22)
2022 Mar 6, Sydney, Australia's most populous city, braced for more heavy downpours as the death toll from flooding across the country's east rose to 17.
(Reuters, 3/6/22)
2022 Mar 9, Australia declared a national emergency in response to devastating floods along its east coast, and designated catastrophe zones in towns swept away by swollen rivers. At least 21 people have died.
(Reuters, 3/9/22)
2022 Mar 14, Australia said it was imposing new sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs and business people, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(Reuters, 3/14/22)
2022 Mar 14, Australia and the Netherlands said they had begun joint legal action against Russia at the United Nations' aviation agency over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014.
(Reuters, 3/14/22)
2022 Mar 18, The Australian agency that manages the Great Barrier Reef said the reef has been hit by bleaching due to heat stress, ahead of a visit by United Nations officials reviewing whether the reef should be listed as being "in danger".
(Reuters, 3/18/22)
2022 Mar 20, Australia said it has imposed an immediate ban on exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia, as part of its ongoing sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
(Reuters, 3/20/22)
2022 Mar 22, Australia's Ashleigh Barty (25) surprisingly retired from tennis while ranked No. 1 and less than two months after winning the Australian Open for her third Grand Slam singles title.
(ESPN, 3/22/22)
2022 Mar 24, The Australian government announced that it had accepted an offer from New Zealand to resettle some refugees it currently or formerly held in its widely criticized system of offshore detention centers.
(NY Times, 3/24/22)
2022 Mar 25, Student activists converged on the Australian prime minister's official residence to demand stronger action against climate change, with recent floods that killed at least 20 people giving their campaign a sense of urgency.
(Reuters, 3/25/22)
2022 Mar 27, Britain's National Grid said it would sell a 60% stake in its British gas transmission and metering business to Australia's Macquarie Asset Management and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation as it shifts towards electricity.
(Reuters 3/27/22)
2022 Mar 29, Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg surprised analysts by increasing a tax break for 10 million low and middle income earners, ahead of an election in May, that would hit bank accounts in July.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, Heavy rains drenched east Australia, triggering evacuation orders for thousands of flood-weary residents for the second time this month as authorities warned the intense weather is likely to persist for the next 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, China protested to Australia for turning back Chinese students who had flown in to Sydney for not disclosing they had undergone mandatory military training at Chinese universities. It is compulsory for students at Chinese universities to go through a short stint of military training at the start of their first year, typically from seven to 24 days.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
2022 Mar 29, India said it has committed to jointly invest $6 million with the Australian government to explore lithium and cobalt mines in Australia over the next six months, in a bid to firm up supplies of key minerals needed to further its electric vehicle plans.
(Reuters, 3/29/22)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Australia
End of file.
