http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/australia/ en-us Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:05:50 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418813/posts See the full 12 minute New Year fireworks display from Sydney Australia. The theme was this month's second full Moon, called the Blue Moon. PA Pundits International http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418813/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:05:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417826/posts WAY OUT IN AUSTRALIA'S OUTBACK, where the lakes are salty and the beer is warm, men with big arms and funny hats cook kangaroo and crocodile. River races are run in bottomless boats by louts scurrying Flintstone-style over dry bedrock. One can easily grow jaded on the outback oddities, until arriving with a jolt in Coober Pedy, the underground town. Marlon Hodges, of Alice Springs, recalls passing through a decade ago. "It was right after they filmed the second Mad Max there. We stepped off the bus, and everyone in town had a huge mohawk. It was bizarre, all these... Gluckman.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417826/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:30:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417482/posts TASMANIAN men have risen to a call to donate sperm. The Sunday Tasmanian last week reported that the state's sperm bank had almost run dry because of fewer men donating and more demand from interstate women. The sperm bank is down to its last four donors and, for the first time in the program's 35-year history, waiting lists will be introduced next month. Tas IVF director Bill Watkins said last week there had been a rush of men calling to find out more about becoming a sperm donor. "We've had a huge response to the story," Dr Watkins said. "About... The Courier-Mail [Au] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417482/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:25:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415698/posts Australian households are in record levels of debt, and for the first time have surpassed American levels. Reserve bank figures show household debt - the combination of personal and mortgage debt - is equivalent to Australia's GDP. That means every adult owes an average of $74,000. Analysts warn that the financial crisis that rocked Main Street in America could well hit Australian families in 2010. Economics Professor Steve Keen at the University of Western Sydney says it is a sign that families are under financial stress. "We now have an enormous proportion of income that has to be devoted to... Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415698/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:29:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415500/posts THE reckless idiots pictured have taken croc trap surfing to a dangerous new level - swimming into the cage. The image of the three drongos risking their lives and limbs surfaced yesterday after they were posted on Facebook. It is believed the picture was taken at Manton Dam - about 75km south of Darwin. The photo shows one man atop the floating metal cage - designed to capture 4m long salties. His two mates are pulling faces from inside the baited trap. It follows a series of photos - published in the Northern Territory News - which show wannabe thrillseekers... Northern Territory News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415500/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:16:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415197/posts The HMAS Melbourne has demonstrated the navy's updated naval air defense capability with the firing of a Standard Missile (SM-2) off Jervis Bay. Minister for Defense Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet said in a written statement that the SM-2 would be further enhanced throughout 2010. "This missile firing was the first time an SM-2 has been fired from an Adelaide-class frigate," Combet said. "The missile was prepared, launched and supported in flight before engaging a target." Combet said Melbourne is now equipped with two modern missile systems to combat anti-ship missiles and aircraft. "HMAS Melbourne is an Adelaide-class guided-missile... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415197/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:09:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414869/posts QUEENSLAND researchers believe they have found a way to to control the spread of dengue fever, which afflicts more than 50 million people worldwide every year. The team at the University of Queensland's (UQ) School of Biological Sciences, led by Professor Scott O'Neill, is investigating infecting mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever with a bacterium that shortens their lifespan, limiting their ability to infect humans with the dengue virus. Professor O'Neill said this approach may be even more effective than first thought. "In a surprising development we have found that mosquitoes carrying this bacterium - known as Wolbachia - are resistant... The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414869/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:51:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413601/posts A WOMAN has been charged with leaving her toddler locked inside a car in scorching temperatures while she went shopping, forcing passers by to rescue him. Shopkeepers used a hammer to smash their way into a four-wheel drive and rescue the screaming youngster in the car park of a shopping centre at McGraths Hill in northwest Sydney on Tuesday. The temperature inside the car was estimated to be more than 60 degrees Celsius. The boy's 34-year-old mother was interviewed at Windsor Police Station this afternoon and charged with leaving a child unsupervised in a motor vehicle. The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413601/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:45:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2412222/posts Bah Humbug, Mate! Bethany Stotts, December 21, 2009 While the war on Christmas often means eliminating Christian references from this jolly season, some scholars want Santa to get a makeover as well. In a December British Medical Journal article Dr. Nathan J. Grills and illustrator Brendan Halyday question whether Santa Claus is a “public health pariah.” The author, Dr. Grills, openly objects to “multinational capitalists” who use Santa to advertise unhealthy products such as tobacco, alcohol and sweets. “Epidemiologically there is a correlation between countries that venerate Santa Claus and those that have high levels of childhood obesity,” writes Grills,... Accuracy in Academia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2412222/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:10:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411961/posts THE Rudd Government will press ahead with its plan to put a price tag on carbon pollution even though the leaders of other nations refused to reach a legally binding agreement on reducing global warming in Copenhagen. Treasurer Wayne Swan said the controversial emissions trading scheme that would push up the cost of electricity and power was "just as relevant now as it was before Copenhagen and we need to pass the bill for business certainty". The ETS was rejected by the Senate earlier this month and the Government planned to re-introduce the scheme for parliamentary approval in February next... The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411961/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:55:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411409/posts WITH their night-vision scopes, balaclavas, infrared cameras and camouflage disguises, this crack squad of undercover agents may look like as though they belong in an Iraq war zone rather than Port Macquarie's Hastings River. But their job is to smash the black market oyster trade in NSW. They're the oyster cops. With the demand for seafood peaking over Christmas, oyster farmers have reported thefts of thousands of dollars worth of oysters that put the public at risk when sold at unsafe temperatures. North Coast Fisheries officer John Timmins said thieves paddle to farms at night in kayaks or canoes and... The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411409/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:29:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411040/posts A man who shouted he was looking "to kill blacks" before an unprovoked murder of a Sudanese refugee did not commit a racially motivated crime, a Victorian Supreme Court judge has ruled. Just hours before the attack, Clinton David Rintoull sprayed the abusive words on the wall of a house in suburban Noble Park in September 2007. He later stood outside the house armed with a metal pole and shouted: "These blacks are turning the town into the Bronx. I'm going to take my own town back. I'm looking to kill blacks". As Rintoull walked down the street looking for... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411040/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:56:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410059/posts Evidence of what could be Australia's earliest human occupation has been found on the fringe of desert in the country's remote northwest, according to archaeologists. Peter Veth, of the Australian National University, said an artefact dated at between 45,000 and 50,000 years old found near the shores of Lake Gregory could be the start of a 25-year study into Australia's first humans. "This is the first evidence of human activity ... in the arid northwest of the continent which can be dated to a time before the last great Ice Age," he said in a statement. It was likely to... Times of Malta http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410059/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:43:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409079/posts I AM often asked to talk at schools and almost always ask students three questions about a film that lies about the "stolen generations". First: "How many of you have been shown Rabbit-Proof Fence?" Answer: every one. Second: "Have you been shown the movie as a great piece of film-making, or as a history lesson?" Answer: in every case as history. You know, like you learn America's history from John Wayne movies. And third: "How many of you have checked whether the film is actually true, by, say, reading the book on which it's based?" Answer: of thousands of students,... Herald Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409079/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:26:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408777/posts Victoria's bushfire warning system has failed its first major test since Black Saturday, with the website that relays vital alerts to residents crashing. As Victoria endured its worst fire day so far this summer, at risk communities relying on the Country Fire Authority (CFA) website for advice were left in the dark. The CFA has blamed technical faults by a service provider for the glitch, which resulted in the page that displays warning messages crashing. It has promised a full investigation but it is little comfort for residents in fire prone areas who spent the day on tenterhooks as the... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408777/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:27:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408764/posts The frantic triple-0 call from a Melbourne motorist whose cruise control jammed has been released. Chase Weir can be heard screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God, I'm gonna die!" as he veered onto the wrong side of the road near the end of his hair-raising 30-minute ordeal through Melbourne's east. Earlier, he can be heard becoming panicked as he attempts to slow the 2002 Ford Explorer. The cruise control originally became stuck on 100km/h on the Eastern Freeway in Kew, with Mr Weir's attempts to brake having little effect. "It slows down to about 80 and then the car... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408764/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:06:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408426/posts KEVIN Rudd's climate change agenda is under fire from three fronts this morning with India, the G77-China bloc and former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton attacking Australia's approach. Lumumba Di-Aping, the chief negotiator for China and G77 group of developing nations at Copenhagen, said today that what Australia had done so far was “simply not good enough”. “The message Kevin Rudd is giving to his people, his citizens, is a fabrication, it's fiction,” he told ABC radio. “It does not relate to the facts because his actions are climate change scepticism in action. All that Australia has... The Australian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408426/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:08:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408339/posts Shoplifting is increasingly common in NSW, with thefts from clothing stores up more than 30 per cent, the state's Bureau of Crime Statistics says. Thefts from licensed premises were also up by a significant amount - 18.1 per cent - in the 12 months to September this year, the bureau says in its quarterly report. Overall, stealing from retail stores was up by 5.8 per cent in the 12 months. There has also been a huge increase in convictions for possession and use of ecstasy and cocaine, with ecstasy convictions up by almost half (49.7 per cent) and cocaine convictions... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408339/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:55:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407387/posts Climate change threatens the survival of dozens of animal species from the emperor penguin to koalas, according to a report released Monday at the UN climate summit. Rising sea levels, ocean acidification and shrinking polar ice are taking a heavy toll on species already struggling to cope with pollution and shrinking habitats, said the study from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an intergovernmental group. "Humans are not the only ones whose fate is at stake here in Copenhagen -- some of our favourite species are also taking the fall for our CO2 emissions," said Wendy Foden,... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407387/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:32:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406993/posts KEVIN Rudd has warned Tony Abbott's "direct action" policy on climate change that abandons an emissions trading scheme as a solution will strangle the Australian economy in red tape. Warning the outcome at Copenhagen was far from certain, the Prime Minister conceded today it would be “tough” to cut a deal on ambitious world targets on climate change. As he prepared to fly out tonight, Mr Rudd warned the alternative proposed by Mr Abbott was less effective, more expensive and bureaucratic and would not offer low and middle income earners the compensation promised under Labor's emissions trading scheme. Speaking at... The Australian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406993/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:20:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406909/posts Paging Al Gore! The global warming alarmists are claiming that 2010 could be the warmest year on record. Perhaps they better inform Mother Nature about this since she seems to be having other plans leading into the new year. Not only is the U.S.A. experiencing unusually cold weather but, almost unbelievably, Australia has just had some snowfall two weeks into their summer which officially began on December 1. Here is a report from the Australian Weather Zone about the summer snow: Most people consider summer a time to wear shorts and thongs wherever one pleases, with little thought of ski... NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406909/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:07:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406778/posts A "GENERATIONAL shift" has pushed demand for cocaine to unprecedented levels, giving Australia the dubious honour of being the world's most lucrative market for the illicit drug. International drug cartels are specifically targeting Australia, where a kilo of the drug now fetches $190,000. An internal report by the Australian Federal Police has warned that international drug cartels are now specifically targeting Australia for cocaine shipments. Seizures of the drug have grown by 20 per cent since 2003. In the US a kilo of cocaine is worth $30,000 to $35,000. The high Australian street value has sparked increased interest from overseas... The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406778/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:54:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406767/posts A dramatic deterioration in Asian security could push Australia to acquire nuclear weapons, a strategy that it abandoned four decades ago, a new study says. But Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) analyst Dr Rod Lyons says such a decision certainly isn't close nor is it inevitable. He said the 2006 Switkowski report on nuclear power suggested it would take Australia at least 10 years and probably 15 to bring the first civil reactor into service. "It's true that Australia might be able to conduct an emergency nuclear weapon construction effort in rather less time, especially if it were to focus... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406767/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:15:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2406737/posts ... to be taken in by this sort of nonsense, courtesy of Aussie politics and press: NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is in 'utter agreement' with the teachings of the Catholic Church but wants female priests, the vow of celibacy relaxed and supports abortion. In related news, I'm in utter agreement with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but believe Joseph Smith was a con artist, think the Book of Mormon is nonsensical, and want the LDS to publicly and financially support abortion. Is that a problem? The mother of two and church-going Catholic challenges much... Insight Scoop http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2406737/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:21:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406481/posts NSW Police have expressed disgust after tallying more than 300 arrests on the second night of a massive crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence. The police were confronted with brawls, assaults and robberies across the state on Saturday during their high-profile campaign against anti-social behaviour. Operation Unite, launched on Friday, nabbed another 307 people on Saturday night, with 509 charges laid. A statement issued by the force on Sunday said officers were "disgusted" at the level of alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour. One officer was even headbutted. The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406481/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:55:04 GMT