Catastrophic weather systems known as ‘fire clouds’, sparked by heat from the raging bush blazes outside Sydney, could see south west Australia hit by devastating lightning storms. The dramatic cloud formations have already been seen over some burning parts of the New South Wales bush last week. But a merging of the biggest wild fires into one ‘mega blaze’ could see temperatures... 

Australians still in the path of forest fires 140 kilometres west of Sydney were told on Saturday it was too late to be evacuated and they should take whatever shelter they could find. Lithgow, at the foot of the Blue Mountains in the south-eastern region, had lost nearly 200 homes in the firestorm that swept through Thursday. The blaze is the latest of dozens in an emergency that Rural Fire Service... 

A large group of protesters, mostly Australian-Syrian youths, have staged a rally in Sydney to voice their solidarity with the Syrian government, nation and army, Press TV reports. The protesters took to the streets at Sydney’s Martin Place Amphitheatre, calling for an end to foreign intervention in the violence-stricken country. Reme Sakr, an organizer of the event, dubbed Hands off Syria, told... 

Highly-redacted documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show the Australian Attorney-General’s Department prepared a secret briefing on the US PRISM spying program months before it was exposed in Edward Snowden’s leaks. The documents in question were requested and obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). They reveal that the Attorney-General’s Department had a... 

To most Sydney siders, it was a magical moment- a majestic fleet of tall ships elegantly floating into sunny Sydney Harbour. But to some, including Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, it was enough to make them sea sick. Either way – The International Fleet Review is unlike anything the Australian public has seen before. This event has been one of the biggest public celebrations in Australia since the Olympic... 

Australia has just gone through a lackluster election, where a change of government took place. Tony Abbott will be Australia’s next prime minister. However this change in government appeared to lack the euphoria of past elections that delivered new governments like ’72, ’75, ’83, ’96, and ’07. Many fear that an Abbott government will bring Australian public policy... 

New Zealand’s police and intelligence services have direct access to US surveillance systems such as PRISM, to monitor email and capture various data traffic, according to police affidavits in connection with the raid on Kim Dotcom’s mansion. The news that the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand (OFCANZ) requested assistance from the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)... 

The Australian navy has tracked down four unexploded bombs that were dumped onto the country’s World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef by two US fighter jets during a botched military exercise last month. According to the Australian Department of Defense, its mine-hunting vessel HMAS Gascoyne has discovered the bombs and is currently working to retrieve the ordnance in a joint recovery operation... 

Australia will post a budget deficit of $30.1 billion for the fiscal year, a gross miscalculation from its May estimate of $18 billion, but the government promises to stay on track. Federal Treasurer Chris Bowen, speaking on the newly-released economic report, said Australia is undergoing ‘economic transition’ and ‘not a crisis’. Bowen predicts weaker economic growth, increased unemployment,... 

At least three people have died after an Australia-bound boat carrying asylum seekers sank off the coast of Indonesia, with up to 157 people rescued. The boat, carrying 175 people, all of them Iranians and Sri Lankans, encountered harsh sea conditions and simply broke up, Australian media reported. More than a dozen people are still unaccounted for as search and rescue operation continue. Two children,... 

New Zealand lawmakers say they now have enough votes to pass a controversial bill that will expand the government’s power, authorizing the interception of private communications in the name of national security. Peter Dunne, leader of New Zealand’s United Future party, changed his position on the legislation and announced his support Tuesday after the bill adopted changes. But critics say the... 

Australia’s Prime Minster Kevin Rudd (R) and his Papua New Guinea counterpart, Peter O’Neill, sign an agreement on asylum seekers in Brisbane on July 19, 2013. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signed an agreement with Papua New Guinea to send all asylum-seekers arriving by boat to the poverty-stricken island nation, a move strongly condemned by multiculturalism groups. Rudd and... 

Telstra, Australia’s largest phone company, stored emails and phone calls to be handed over to US intelligence upon request, according to an agreement it signed in 2001 with the FBI and US Department of Justice. The copy of the 12-year-old agreement, which was posted online on Friday by news website Crikey, is in confirmation of this week’s earlier leak by Edward Snowden, revealing that large... 

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says if the Labor Party is reelected, he will hold a referendum on the recognition of the country’s Aborigines in the constitution. On Wednesday, during the 50th anniversary of the indigenous land rights movement, Rudd said the recognition of the Aboriginal people as Australia’s first inhabitants was a key priority. “I therefore, as prime minister, want... 

The Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS), South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Ex-NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden has disclosed his first set of documents outlining Australia’s role in NSA surveillance programs, picking out four facilities in the country that contribute heavily to US spying. The locations of dozens of the US’s and associated countries signal...