Flood wreaked havoc on the state of Queensland, Australia, in January 2011. Thousands of people in eastern Australia have been cut off from their homes by floodwaters, following thunderstorms and tornados that wreaked havoc to the region. Flooding, caused by heavy rain and stiff winds, continues in Australia. The State Emergency Service (SES) said Sunday that around 20,000 people had been cut off across... 

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange addresses members of the media and supporters from the window of the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, west London, December 20, 2012. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange believes that he can extricate from his prolonged asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London if he wins a seat in Australia’s upper house of parliament. “The US Department of Justice won’t... 

An Australian court has ruled in favor of allowing a company to patent a human gene. Concerns have been voiced that allowing a company to monopolize genes will turn the human body into a commodity, and will adversely affect healthcare. The judge argued the act of removing a specific gene from the body and isolating it made it into a product “of new manufacture” and therefore open to be patented,... 

Nearly 200,000 Australians have been released from the medical slavery that is artificial water fluoridation thanks to a major governmental policy change. The Liberal National Party (LNP) government of the Australian state of Queensland has not only cut $14 million of funding that had previously been used for fluoridation, but has also decided to allow local councils to decide for themselves whether... 

An Australian company claims it has found an untapped shale oil field with estimated reserves that could potentially put the country next to remarkably oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Still, extracting the discovered treasure poses a huge technical challenge. ­Brisbane-based company Linc Energy has presented two estimates by respected independent consultants claiming that drilling and seismic exploration... 

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen insists Australia’s tough asylum seeker policies are discouraging Sri Lankans from getting on boats despite a warning that boat arrivals could total 30,000 in 2013. The minister’s comments came as refugee advocate Paris Aristotle warned asylum seeker boat arrivals, which reached around 2500 in November, were likely to increase next year. “At the current... 

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has come under heavy pressure from Jewish and pro-Israeli groups after announcing that Canberra would abstain from a vote for the upgrading of the status of Palestine at the UN. Australia’s Jewish groups have demanded a meeting with the premier to express their anger over her decision and to urge her to vote against the bid which would upgrade Palestine’s... 

The initial stage of unprecedented radio telescope has been officially opened in Australia. The project will explore the universe in search of new galaxies, black holes, planets and even intelligent extraterrestrial life – if there is any. In the heart of red desert where man-made radio signals are minimal the AUS$152 million worth telescope will scan space for traces of the beginning of the universe,... 

Think twice the next time you play a video game or surf the Net: ‘Internet-use disorder’ is set to be added to the list of mental illnesses in the worldwide psychiatric manual. Kids are identified as being especially at risk. The international mental health encyclopedia known as the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ (DSM-IV) will include Internet-use disorder as a condition... 

Genetically engineered wheat contains an enzyme suppressor that, when consumed by humans, could cause permanent liver failure and death. That’s the warning issued today by molecular biologist Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury in Australia. Heinemann has published an eye-opening report that details this warning and calls for rigorous scientific testing on animals before this crop is... 

New Zealanders are moving to Australia in their tens of thousands. Australia is facing a flood of economic refugees. But the big numbers aren’t from the north, they are from the across the Tasman, where Statistics New Zealand yesterday announced the biggest exodus to Australia on record. An extraordinary 53,900 New Zealanders moved to Australia in the year to July – around the entire population... 

Employees of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute asked the authorities to increase defense spending. They fear the rapid growth of Asian countries, and even though Australia is now friendly with them, it is time to think about defense. What is happening in the world, if one of the most non-conflict countries in the Southern Hemisphere is preparing for war? Not that long ago, Australian strategists... 

The federal government has unveiled an historic agreement with mining magnate Gina Rinehart to import overseas workers to fill jobs in her iron ore project in Western Australia. The enterprise migration agreement (EMA) will be first used at the mining magnate’s $6.5 billion Roy Hill project, allowing Hancock Prospecting to bring in 1700 migrant workers on a temporary basis. Union leaders today... 

Australia will become the first major economy in the developed world to record a surplus since the start of the global financial crisis. Julia Gillard, the prime minister, has pinned her political future on a “Robin Hood” budget which includes sweeping handouts worth more than £3 billion to reverse her dwindling public support. Relying on extra revenues from mining companies, the Government... 

US Marines Corps About 200 United States Marines have arrived in Australia for a six-month deployment in the Northern Territory, as part of plans to expand the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific. According to a US Marine Corps spokesman, the first of 2,500 Marines, who entered the northern Australian city of Darwin late Tuesday, are expected to engage in exercises with the Australian Defense...