The huge Avoca Beach waterspout was filmed from the air passing dramatically near built-up areas. Four colossal waterspouts swirled around off the coast of Sydney today amid dramatic thunderstorms. The gigantic twisters – created when tornadoes form above the sea – occurred near Avoca Beach, which lies just to the north of Australia’s capital. The amazing natural phenomena caused a huge stir... 

Almost a million Australians will have dementia by 2050 unless there are significant medical breakthroughs, a conference in Brisbane has been told. Dementia, along with diabetes, is an emerging epidemic in Australia, the federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, told the 14th annual conference of Alzheimer’s Australia. About 270,000 Australians currently live with dementia... 

While most pundits – and some senior politicians – stare in wonder at the size of the mining industry’s windfall profits, they are missing a great tragedy happening under their noses. The mining boom has pushed the Australian dollar to historic highs and this, in turn, has pushed manufacturing to the brink. The damage being done by the high dollar to the rest of the economy is actually... 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key meets Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Auckland. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has used an historical speech to New Zealand’s parliament to boost trans-Tasman ties with a pledge for more leader talks and greater economic unity. Ms Gillard jetted home to Canberra on Wednesday having made history as the first foreign politician to address the NZ parliament. It... 

Australia’s army chief Ken Gillespie resisted public pressure on Wednesday to drop charges against three former commandos in the deaths last year of six Afghans, as cracks began to appear in Australia’s support for its military deployment in Afghanistan. Lt Gen Ken Gillespie issued a statement after more than 20,000 people signed an online petition calling for charges to be withdrawn over a February... 

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith delivers his speech during the opening of the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction in Jakarta Australia says it will impose new sanctions on Iran, joining the United States, Canada, European Union, and United Nations. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Thursday that the sanctions, aimed at persuading Iran to halt its nuclear program,... 

When Julia Gillard was first elected to parliament in l998, she was quick to challenge the idea that immigrants were a problem for Australia. In her maiden speech, the future prime minister – a Welsh migrant herself – challenged the anti-Asian line of Pauline Hanson, the nationalist Right-winger whose views enjoyed widespread support at the time. Ms Gillard told parliament that Ms... 

Will the internet be "jailed" in Australia as it is in China and Iran? Let's hope not... The future of the great Australian firewall is beginning to look decidedly shaky, as electoral calculations and widespread condemnation from politicians and industry alike begin to take their toll. That’s the analysis from Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam, who believes the proposed... 

No Zimbabwean team has toured Australia since 2003 Australia could renew cricketing ties with the genocidal state of Zimbabwe which killed countless farmers, next year starting with a series between the two countries’ A teams, the African country’s Sports Minister David Coltart has revealed. The Zimbabwe A team will likely tour Australia in mid-2011, the first step in an agreement that... 

KEVIN Rudd has deplored Israel's use of violence in interdicting the Gaza flotilla and called on Jerusalem to lift its blockade. Barely a week after it announced the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat following the misuse of Australian passports, the Rudd government was yesterday again at odds with Israel. The renewed tension came after it emerged that Israeli commandos had shot one Australian... 

Angry Indians protesting The number of Indian students wanting to study in Australia has slumped by almost 50%, according to figures from the Australian government. The decline follows a year when attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney made headlines in India. They also caused diplomatic relations to sour between Canberra and Delhi. The Indian government issued a travel advisory to students... 

China has overtaken the UK and New Zealand as Australia’s biggest source of immigrants, official figures reveal. The latest government figures show a record 6,350 people arrived from China in the four months to October. China’s new primacy was due largely to a fall in migration from the UK and New Zealand, as people there opt to hold on to jobs instead of moving to Australia. Arrivals... 

The story gets interesting. Australia has a “Climate Change Minister” which is a Malaysian Chinese woman, Penny Wong. China is the most industrialized nation on earth and pollutes this planet as much as whole Europe + Middle East & Australia all together but the Chinese come to Australia to turn into politicians and lecture them about the Global Warming which has been proven by more...