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,... 

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... 

According to some scientists, the Atlantic Ocean is rapidly “aging” and may soon disappear from the face of the Earth. A team of researchers from Australia found a quickly forming subduction zone on the ocean floor. Usually these zones are a sign of “aging.” Scientists do not rule out that their formation is to be blamed on the Mediterranean Sea that has been “dying”... 

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been defeated by former Premier Kevin Rudd in a Labor Party leadership vote. Former Prime Minister Rudd won the vote of the Labor caucus 57 to 45, reports on Wednesday said. The prime minister is expected to resign on Thursday, before Rudd is sworn in. Gillard said a leadership vote for the Labor Party would be held... 

Julian Assange’s newly formed Australian WikiLeaks Party (WLP) announced that if elected, it will immediately introduce a national shield law to protect a reporter’s right not to reveal a source, as current state-based shield laws are “inadequate.” “Only a uniform shield law covering the whole Commonwealth is acceptable,” WLP spokespersons Cassie Findlay and Sam Castro said. “Government... 

In the wake of an Australian investigation into cosmetics’ brands and inaccurate information provided to consumers, Humane Society International urges companies to join forces with its global campaign Be Cruelty-Free and end animal testing. An investigation by Australian consumer watchdog group Choice appears to show representatives of major cosmetics brands such as Lancome, Dior, Clarins and... 

Australia says it would continue to send back illegal Sri Lankan asylum seekers if their claims are not covered by the refugee convention. “When people arrive in Australia unauthorised, any claims they make for their reasons to travel to Australia are assessed by the Department of Immigration. If these claims are not covered by the refugee convention, they will be returned to their home land wherever... 

The boycott, divest and sanction campaign, known as the BDS campaign, is a global civil movement that strongly opposes Israel’s occupation of Palestine. It says it hopes to promote a message of impunity of Israel in its serial breaches of international law and internal humanitarian law. The BDS movement is spreading in Australia with one of the country’s leading academic institutions, the University... 

Julian Assange’s new political party is open for membership, WikiLeaks announced on Twitter on Saturday. The party must enlist 500 dues-paying members to officially register with the Australian Electoral Commission. The WikiLeaks party was created as part of Assange’s bid to become an Australian senator in September 2013 elections in Victoria State. At the moment the party has an initial 10-member... 

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard addresses a press conference in Canberra on March 21, 2013. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has managed to hold onto her position as the leader of the country’s Labor Party. The 51-year-old Gillard remained the party leader after a vote on Thursday, as MP Kevin Rudd failed to garner enough party support to replace her. “This is a difficult day...