Latest Australia government News

Chinese premier lands in Australia on first such visit in 7 years

Jun. 15, 2024 06:50 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China’s global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda. His visit is the first by a Chinese premier in...

Australia anticipates China will lift final obstacle for exports as they ease past 2020 row

Jun. 12, 2024 02:34 AM EDT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell on Wednesday predicted the final obstacle for exports to China, Beijing’s ban on live lobster imports, will be lifted soon after Chinese Premier Li Qiang visits the country. The return of lobsters to the Chinese...

Chinese premier to visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia

Jun. 11, 2024 05:35 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia starting Thursday, officials said. Li will visit the three countries from June 13 to 20, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Tuesday. Australia earlier announced...

A growing Filipino diaspora means plenty of celebration worldwide for Philippine Independence Day

Jun. 11, 2024 02:08 AM EDT

In the Philippines — where Spanish and later U.S. colonial rule persisted for nearly four centuries — June 12 is the real Independence Day. That date in 1898 was the pivotal moment when the island nation first made a bold move for autonomy. Ahead of this year's holiday in...

Australian leader tells activists to 'turn the heat down' after US Consulate vandalized over Gaza

Jun. 10, 2024 09:38 AM EDT

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to “turn the heat down” after the U.S. Consulate in Sydney was vandalized on Monday. Surveillance video showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small...

Australia's leader says opposition will renege on greenhouse gas emissions target if elected

Jun. 10, 2024 03:57 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said the opposition Liberal Party would renege on the nation’s ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 if it wins elections due within a year. Albanese made Australian action on...

New South Wales becomes last Australian state to apologize for laws criminalizing homosexuality

Jun. 06, 2024 02:19 AM EDT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The leader of Australia's most populous state apologized Thursday for the “unforgivable pain” caused by previous laws criminalizing homosexuality, 40 years after gay sex was decriminalized in New South Wales. “We are here to apologize for every...

Australia's military will recruit some noncitzens in a bid to boost troop numbers

Jun. 04, 2024 04:40 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian military will begin recruiting some noncitizens in a bid to boost troop numbers, the government said Tuesday. Only people from other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership who hold Australian permanent residency will be...

Fears rise of a second landslide and disease outbreak at site of Papua New Guinea disaster

May. 28, 2024 22:46 PM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea’s mass-casualty disaster because of water streams and bodies trapped beneath the tons of debris that swept over a village. Thousands are being told to prepare to...

Emergency convoy delivers provisions to survivors of devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea

May. 25, 2024 09:31 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Survivors searched through tons of earth and rubble by hand looking for missing relatives while a first emergency convoy delivered food, water and other provisions Saturday at the site of a landslide that devastated a remote village in the mountains of Papua New Guinea...