A leading Australian official felt a fierce backlash after she warned homeowners to “automatically ask anyone with an Irish accent” to leave their property. Victoria Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz made the statement when launching a campaign to raise awareness about con men preying on older Australians. “If anybody knocks on your door that has an Irish accent, automatically ask them... 

It has been a direction the country has been intentionally steering towards for decades, however now it seems Australia can truly call itself an ‘Asian Nation’. The 2016 census figures reveal that China, India and the Philippines now account for more foreign-born residents than the traditional birthplaces of England, New Zealand and Europe. The census reports that more than a quarter of Australians... 

Four thousand teachers in Australia are preparing to go through a training program aimed at helping stop sexism in students as young as 4-years-old. The course, set up by the regional government in Victoria, will teach educators how to spot young children who “enact sexist values, beliefs and attitudes.” A document concerning the program obtained by Heat Street defends the action by arguing that... 

The group is being backed by the education union, but Opposition state education spokesman Nick Wakeling said ‘the classroom isn’t a soapbox for activist teachers’. Hundreds of teachers at 30 Victorian schools will wear T-shirts promoting the closure of offshore detention camps as of Monday as part of a pro-refugee movement. Up to 500 educators with Teachers for Refugees will wear... 

Six are now dead from a rare “thunderstorm asthma” outbreak in Melbourne, Australia. Five more remain in intensive care units, with three in critical condition, and another 12 are in hospitals for less severe respiratory problems. A thunderstorm in the city November 21 started the asthma outbreak. After a very hot, high pollen day, the sudden high winds and heavy rain soaked ryegrass pollen... 

Victoria state in Australia is suffering raging bushfires that have already claimed over 100 homes in one of the country’s famous tourist areas. Emergency authorities scrambled to fight the disaster and warn more fires will come by the New Year. Massive bushfires were fanned by winds and rapidly made advances across residential areas in the townships of Wye River and Separation Creek on Friday. Victoria... 

Australian police arrested six people as anti-racist and anti-Islam activists clashed at a Reclaim Australia rally in the southeastern city of Melton. A large contingent of police separated the two groups. At least 300 people came to the “Reclaim Australia” event at the Melton Civic Centre to speak out against the construction of a mosque in Melton, located just west of Melbourne. People carried... 

Anti-Islam rallies have taken place across Australia, organized by the Reclaim Australia group. Police were forced to intervene in Melbourne as clashes broke out between anti-Islam and anti-white racist protesters, with thousands attending the demonstrations. The Reclaim Australia community group, who organized protests in 16 cities and towns across the country, was protesting against Sharia law,... 

The Woolly Mammoth at the Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia. Scientists at Harvard University are one step closer to bringing Woolly mammoths back to life, after successfully inserting some sequences of mammoth DNA into an elephant genome. The study is yet to be published, though, as there is still work to do. No recreation of the Ice Age would be complete without large, shaggy woolly mammoths... 

Police and protesters have clashed during the UK’s largest student demonstration for four years. It is not yet clear how many arrests have been made. The protest, initially a campaign for free university education after the coalition government raised tuition fees, was joined by anarchists who clashed with police after they attempted to stop them entering Parliament Square. Prior to the scuffle... 

Mildura Solar Power Station Silex Systems, the company constructing Australia’s biggest solar plant, has suspended its funding following reports the national Renewable Energy Target (RET) could be scaled back or done away with altogether. The 100-megawatt Mildura Solar Concentrator Power Station, a $70 million project in Victoria, was supposed to provide electricity to 40,000 homes. Now Silex Systems... 

A bright object that dazzled in the sky over Australia left people confused. Social media was abuzz with the pictures of the mystery fireball, with users claiming it was either a plane crashing into the ocean or a ‘meteor.’ A round object with a burning tail was spotted in the sky over Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia at about 9:45pm local time on Thursday night. Airservices Australia... 

Image from NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges Facebook page. The Australian state of Victoria’s parliament passed a bill giving police power to suppress protests, including ordering a rally to move on based on a suspicion that it may turn violent. Opponents call the powers excessive and undemocratic. The Summary Offences and Sentencing Amendment Bill passed through the upper house of the Victorian... 

An emergency warning has been issued in Western Australia due to a bushfire that continues to rage toward the city of Perth. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on Monday that at least one person died in the flames that destroyed dozens of houses and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people in the suburbs of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia State. “It has been confirmed... 

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...