Latest Australia government News

Australia and New Zealand begin evacuating nationals from unrest in New Caledonia

May. 21, 2024 04:06 AM EDT

NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Australia and New Zealand sent airplanes to New Caledonia on Tuesday to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had received clearance from...

Australia's deputy prime minister pledges support to Solomon Islands during visit to Honiara

May. 21, 2024 03:12 AM EDT

NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Australia's deputy prime minister pledged support to the Solomon Islands during a visit to the archipelago nation on Tuesday, as Canberra intensifies efforts to counter China's growing influence in the South Pacific. Richard Marles’ trip to the...

Army whistleblower who exposed alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan is sentenced to prison

May. 14, 2024 18:37 PM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge sentenced a former army lawyer to almost six years in prison on Tuesday for leaking to the media classified information that exposed allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. David McBride, 60, was sentenced in a court in...

Australian judge lifts court ban on X showing video of Sydney church stabbing

May. 13, 2024 03:54 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge Monday lifted a ban on the social media platform X showing Australians a video of a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church. The temporary ban was put in place April 22, but the judge rejected the application from Australia’s...

Australian judge extends ban on X sharing video of Sydney bishop's stabbing

May. 10, 2024 07:04 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge on Friday extended a ban on X allowing videos of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in his church last month after government lawyers condemned the social media company's free speech argument for keeping the graphic images circulating. ...

Australia and Tuvalu strike new security deal that eases the tiny nation's sovereignty concerns

May. 09, 2024 00:17 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia struck a new security deal with Tuvalu on Thursday after critics complained that a previous pact created an Australian veto power over any other agreement the tiny South Pacific island nation pursued with a third country, such as China. Tuvalu...

Albanese rejects China's argument that Australia was at fault in dangerous aircraft encounter

May. 08, 2024 04:49 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday rejected China's argument that Australia was responsible for a dangerous weekend encounter between their military aircraft in international airspace over the Yellow Sea. Both China and Australia...

Australia accuses China of unsafe behavior when fighter jet released flares in a helicopter's path

May. 07, 2024 04:56 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has protested to Beijing through multiple channels that a Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian navy helicopter with flares over international waters, the prime minister said Tuesday. Beijing retorted that the Australian aircraft...

Boy shot dead after Perth stabbing was in deradicalization program, but no ties seen to Sydney teens

May. 06, 2024 01:37 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 16-year-old boy who was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in the Australian west coast city of Perth had been in a deradicalization program but had no links to an alleged network of teen extremists in the east coast city of Sydney, authorities said. ...

Qantas agrees to pay $79 million in compensation and a fine for selling seats on canceled flights

May. 05, 2024 23:54 PM EDT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Qantas Airways agreed to pay 120 million Australian dollars ($79 million) in compensation and a fine for selling tickets on thousands of cancelled flights, the airline and Australia’s consumer watchdog said on Monday. The Australian Competition and...