Latest Australia News
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Australians win show garden prize
The Trailfinders Australian Garden by Fleming's Nurseries, which features plants native to the country and demonstrates sustainable landscaping in an urban setting, was also awarded a gold medal, being praised by ...
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Detainee self-harm falls but figures questioned
Self-harm rates among asylum seekers in Australian detention centres has dramatically fallen since September 2011. But an independent report by the Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman has lambasted the record-keeping practices of the Department of Immigration and its service provider Serco, saying they make inaccurate reporting ''practically inevitable''. On Tuesday, ...
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Teens technology law when sexting is not pornography
When three US high school students from Virginia made cellphone videos of drunken sex acts with fellow teens and shared them among themselves, they ended up in court last week facing charges usually reserved for adult predators: child pornography. The case is one of a number where teens caught ''sexting'' have been charged with a felony that can carry a sentence of 20 years ...
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Leagues under the sea could even be a celebration
crosswords. Avid readers know the order of battle just by their initials. They even have names for their tormenters: They call DA ''Don't Attempt'', NS is ''No Sweat''. When Mr Plomley joined the tribe, the late Lindsey Browne, the ...
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$25m fine means life in foreign jail
The scales of justice in Dubai are askew. Consider the case of Alicia Gali, an Australian drugged and raped by three fellow hotel employees in 2008. With four broken ribs, she reported the crime - and was promptly charged with having sex out of wedlock. She was sentenced to 12 months' jail and served the next eight months behind bars. Her attackers, charged with the same offence, were ...
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Man shot in park in Sydneys south
The 27-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds to his right hand and left thigh in a park in Mascot on Tuesday night.He has been taken to hospital, where he will undergo surgery for non-life-threatening injuries, police ...
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Penny Wong slams Australian Christian Lobby claims over gay marriage
SOUTH Australian Senator Penny Wong has condemned as "bigotry" Australian Christian Lobby comments comparing children of same-sex couples with the Stolen Generations. Ms Wong, the nation's Finance Minister who has a young daughter with her partner Sophie Allouache, says such views have "no place in modern Australia". The Christian group made the comparison in response to an ...
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Labor MPs back Kevin Rudds change of heart over gay marriage but dismiss leadership chatter
LABOR MPs have welcomed Kevin Rudd's change of heart on gay marriage but insist his public declaration is not designed to trigger another leadership challenge. The former Prime Minister's closest backers say they were "in the dark" over his embrace of same sex marriage while downplaying suggestions it was aimed at boosting his standing within Caucus. "The Kevin thing is ...
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Man denies hiding in Australia to avoid PNG fraud charges
Papua New Guinea A controversial Papua New Guinean businessman denies he had been hiding in Australia to avoid charges of misappropriating millions of dollars.Eremas Wartoto had been living in Australia since 2011 after being charged with misappropriating $3 million earmarked for a high school.He returned to PNG this month after it was revealed he had been living in Cairns on a 457 visa, which ...
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Australian garden team triumphs at Chelsea Flower Show
Australia A team of Australian gardeners have created history by claiming best in show honours at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London. The Trailfinders Australian Garden exhibit, which took a team of 18 volunteers 17 days to build, features a stone gorge, running waterfalls and a billabong.The $2 million display was designed by Melbourne's Philip Johnson, and is the first ...
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Aussies dig deep to win Ashes of gardening
An ecstatic team of Australians have won the best-in-show medal at the Chelsea Flower Show - the Ashes of horticulture. ''We're the best in the world; we're the Usain Bolts of gardening,'' said the head of Fleming's Nurseries, Wes Fleming. It was Fleming's last try for the medal after nine attempts. The 18-strong team hugged and broke into a ...
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State Liberals propose privatising ABC SBS
Tony Abbott is facing internal pressure from Victorian Liberals. Tony Abbott is facing internal pressure from Victorian Liberals to privatise the ABC and SBS if he wins the September 14 election amid claims both organisations are struggling to comply with their charters. State Liberals have launched a push ahead of the election to sell the public broadcasters, arguing the funds raised should ...
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Deprivation worsening among single parents report reveals
A bleak picture of disadvantage among single parents forced onto Newstart has emerged, with a new Salvation Army report finding the contentious policy has compounded levels of deprivation. The survey of 2705 people who used the organisation's emergency relief services in March highlighted the impact of the Gillard government's decision to shift 84,000 single parents on to the ...
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Conroy faces revolt over deal on live betting odds
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, brokered a deal with the television industry to allow betting companies to continue spruiking live odds during sports broadcasts, despite the growing public backlash against the spread of gambling culture. Senator Conroy has said repeatedly that sports fans are having live odds ''pushed down their throats'' - but Fairfax Media has ...
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Bed-sharing increases SIDS risk
Some doctors are calling for parents to be explicitly told not to sleep with their infants after a large study found it led to a five-fold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome. A controversial review of data from the UK, Europe and Australasia found bed sharing significantly increased the risk of SIDS even when parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and ...
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Students need gambling education academic
Teaching students the dangers of gambling, in the same manner as alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex, is crucial with the boom in betting and easy access to online gambling, an international expert has warned. Canadian academic Jeffrey Derevensky, of McGill University's International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours, said gambling should be treated like other teen ...
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The problem with porn
Technology has enabled the proliferation of pornography, making it so pervasive that it has become the main sex educator for many young people. This is a profound problem because it gives a distorted view of sexuality and human relations, predominantly involves violence against women and encourages hazardous practices. It is causing young people confusion and anxiety, and they are feeling ...
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Wong lashes out at Christian lobby
A virtual war over gay marriage has broken out between key Labor government figures and a powerful Christian lobby group. Finance Minister Penny Wong has accused the ultra-conservative Australian Christian Lobby of ''peddling prejudice'' and engaging in ''bigotry that has no place in a modern Australia''. The sharp rebuke of an organisation courted by ...
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KKR Exits Australias Seven West Media Tim Worner Promoted to Seven West CEO
SYDNEY - U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co will sell its entire AUS$260 million (US$255 million) stake in Australia’s Seven West Media, ending a seven year partnership in the top rating Australian TV network, Seven West ...
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Vaccine refusers turn to Dr Google
Nationally only two-year-olds have an immunisation rate of 92.6 per cent. The declining immunisation rates are due in part to a group of parents who are vaccine refusers. In December 2012 the children of vaccine refusers made up 1.49 per cent of the kids who should be immunised, the Department of Health ...
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Teens lack web stranger danger
Around six per cent of young children and teens have met people in real life who made contact with them through the internet and many other share very personal data online via social networking ...
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Oil production starts offshore Australia
Australian energy company Santos said it expects to produce 15,000 barrels of oil per day from its Fletcher Finucane project offshore Western Australia. Santos said it started oil production from the facility ahead of schedule and on budget. The $490 million development was sanctioned in January 2012. "Fletcher Finucane is projected to have an average gross production rate of 15,000 ...
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Oasis childcare worker Jessica Bleaney named best young childcare worker in Australia
SEEING the smiles on childrens faces makes going to work easy for day care centre employee Jessica Bleaney. The Salisbury’s Oasis Community Children’s Centre worker has been named the best young child care centre employee in Australia. The 22 year old was awarded the National Rising Star award at the Australian Family Early Education and Care gala dinner in Sydney this month. Ms ...
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Baz Luhrmann gets last laugh at box office
AUSTRALIAN filmmaker Baz Luhrmann is used to getting mixed reviews, but he's having the last laugh with The Great Gatsby. The Australian-filmed Gatsby has received some lacklustre reviews from the critics, but it has opened with a box office bang. "This morning internationally we were No.1 in the world against Iron Man and Star Trek," Luhrmann said during an interview on 7.30 on the ...
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Australian storm chaser describes tornado
May 21, 2013 21:14:10 Australian storm chaser Melissa Marshall and her meteorologist husband were in Oklahoma's Tornado Alley when the tornado hit, and drove into the city after it had ...
Brisbane Digest
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Cost of driving is becoming punitive in Brisbane
Is driving in Brisbane becoming punitively expensive? With the recent toll increases, on top of those made in 2006 and 2008, as well as last year, and the recent mis-management surrounding the privatisation of major roads in Sydney, it seems that using major roads in Brisbane is going to become even more expensive.
Brisbane, like many cities across Australia, is facing a mounting budget deficit in the wake of the near-crippling financial crisis and ensuing recession, as the state capital, it must also oversee Queensland’s plunge in revenues, which has created a budget deficit of over $2.3 billion for the state. Read more
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