Category: Australia

Pacific islands first to welcome in new year

Islands in Polynesia and the Central Pacific have ushered in the new year as the UK counts down to the start of 2017. Cities in the island nations of Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati were the first to welcome the new year as the clock hit 10am on New Year’s Eve in London.

Junior Josh storms home in boilover

HE is competing with the senior cyclists for the first time at a Tasmanian Carnivals series but Launceston teenager Josh Duffy showed the tactical nous of a seasoned veteran to cause a major boilover and claim the Devonport Wheel. The 16-year-old made the most of his 240m mark at the front of the field in last night’s final, to hold off some fast-finishing backmarkers to claim the $6500 prize in the biggest win of his infant career.

More Queensland women choose midwives to deliver babies

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Queensland women choosing midwives to manage the birth of their babies, despite doctors’ concerns the practice puts patients at risk. The midwife model of care operates in five hospitals across the state, which have all reported a rise in demand.

Update on state project statuses

An update on the government’s progress over the past three months found delays have held back school capital works and crisis accommodation projects. Premier Will Hodgman provided the update on the state’s projects and their timeframes when he released the government’s Third Quarter update for October to December 2016.

Julie Bishop backs Israel rather than the US over UN resolution

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Julie Bishop backs Israel rather than the US over UN resolution

Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer View text version of this page Help using this website – Accessibility statement Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox. Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.

Former Canberra boy in the Northern Territory police for only a week…

Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer View text version of this page Help using this website – Accessibility statement Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox. Former Canberra boy in the Northern Territory police for only a week before he performs daring river rescue – in his pink undies A former Canberra man – the son of well-known local philanthropists Debbie and Richard Rolfe – has performed two daring rescues in a flood-swollen Alice Springs river just one week after starting with the Northern Territory police.

Australian police nab 15 suspects in 1 ton cocaine bust

Australian officials seized more than a ton of cocaine worth about 360 million Australian dollars in what police on Thursday dubbed one of the largest drug busts in the nation’s history. Fifteen men were arrested following a 2 1/2-year federal and state police investigation into suspected drug trafficking by commercial fishermen in Sydney, New South Wales police said in a statement.

Morrison’s pilsner best at Taste

WINNERS: Launceston’s Morrison Brewery brewer Paul Morrison and assistant brewer Will Horan won an award for best lager at the Taste of Tasmania in Hobart. Using an experimental style of hops paid off for Launceston’s Morrison Brewery when it was named best lager at the Taste of Tasmania on Thursday.

Seven missing after freak rains drench Australia’s outback

Unusual torrential rain in Australia’s outback turned the Uluru monolith into a series of cascading waterfalls and triggered flash floods, and seven people are missing including a Japanese tourist who was swept away in a car and an Australian family. Police were using helicopters to search for the family of six, missing since Christmas Day downpours drenched the desert that is usually sweltering in the midst of the southern summer at this time of year.

7 missing in Australia’s Northern Territory

Seven people including a child and an Asian tourist are missing after heavy rain over Christmas caused severe flooding in Australia’s Northern Territory. Two cars went missing on Christmas Day while driving between Kiwirrkurra and Kintore, across the Western Australian and Northern Territory borders, police said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Big changes for UTAS

LOOKING FORWARD: University of Tasmania Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen said 2016 was an exciting year of accomplishments and changes, with many more to come next year. The 125-year-old institution took home many prestigious research awards, added to its range of courses and, of course, secured funds to relocate its campuses in Launceston and Burnie.

Lucky ride

WHAT A RIDE: Jockey Dean Yendall guides Darren Weir-trained Lucky Paddy to the finish line in the Woodford Cup on Tuesday. Picture: Bronwyn Nicholson/Getty Images VICTORIA’S leading trainer Darren Weir scored his fourth Woodford Cup victory in five years when Lucky Paddy won the $45,000 race at Warrnambool on Tuesday.

APVMA move bordering on the farcical

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Dyslexic PhD student James Bond takes University of Sydney to the NSW anti-discrimination board

Despite testimony from former prime minister Julia Gillard, NSW Labor frontbencher Mick Veitch and former deputy premier Andrew Stoner, Mr Bond has been rejected for his PhD by three different universities, Newcastle, Macquarie and the University of Sydney, because he has dyslexia, he says. One of the biggest policy reforms in generations is about to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

Wild Oats XI retires from Sydney to Hobart race

In this photo proved by Rolex, some of the competitors reach the heads of Sydney Harbour during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race, Monday, Dec. 26, 2016. Photo Credit: AP In this photo proved by Rolex, some of the competitors reach the heads of Sydney Harbour during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race, Monday, Dec. 26, 2016.

Three-day heatwave in Sydney to be the hottest end of December in 50 YEARS

It’s gonna be a scorcher! Three-day 40C heatwave in Sydney to be the hottest end of December in 50 YEARS Sydney is on track to swelter through its hottest end to a year in over 50 years, with forecasts of a three-day heatwave bringing temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s. The Bureau of Meteorology predicts perfect summer weather for Sydney on Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures tipped to reach 30 degrees with cloud coverage.

It wasn’t all downhill for February

Doggone it: Vision-impaired woman Merryn Joske is refused entry to four Kiama cafe because of her Pets as Therapy dog Toby. Picture: Sylvia Liber Changes: After 25 years in TV, WIN newsreader Kerryn Johnston resigns so she can spend more time with the family.

Australia v Pakistan Test series: Here’s how Pakistan hope to curb Steve Smith

Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer View text version of this page Help using this website – Accessibility statement Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox. Steve Smith played a crucial role in establishing Australia’s series-opening win in Brisbane but Pakistan believe they may have the necessary tactic to quell the run machine.

Sydney To Hobart shapes as fastest of all time

A favourable weather forecast has set up this year’s Sydney To Hobart to be the fastest of all time, although the smaller boats are likely to encounter harsher conditions on their final approach to Tasmania. The fleet of 89 yachts will be greeted by a north-easterly of about 15-20 knots when they turn out of Sydney, with gusts steadily increasing into the evening before a dry southerly change hits the south-east coast of Australia.

It was the year of living dangerously: 2016 CBD Wrap

It was a Tuesday morning, May 24, and your columnist was conferring with Angus Aitken – Bell Potter’s head of institutional trading – about an email he had sent out that morning concerning the recent appointment of Michelle Jablko as ANZ’s chief financial officer. “Former investment bankers tend to be crap at most things in the listed world,” Aitken opined to his clients of the appointment.

Missing passenger in fatal WA crash found

A man who walked barefoot into the Nullarbor in Western Australia after a car crash left one dead and injured another has been found severely dehydrated. The man was seen wandering into the bush on Friday morning after a crash on the Eyre Highway, about 40km east of Balladonia Road House.

Finch hits form as Renegades down Thunder

If Australia’s ODI selectors needed reassurance embattled opener Aaron Finch isn’t far off making some runs he gave it to them with a man-of-the-match performance in the Melbourne Renegades’ big BBL win over the Sydney Thunder. Finch found his groove with a swashbuckling half-century as the Renegades cruised to a 48-run win over the Thunder on Thursday night.

‘Togetherness’: Ruby Rose reunites with girlfriend Jessica…

‘Togetherness’: Ruby Rose reunites with girlfriend Jessica Origliasso as the loved-up couple spend time with friends at a rainforest retreat And on Thursday, Ruby Rose was reunited with her girlfriend, Veronicas singer Jessica Origliasso at a rainforest retreat in Queensland. ‘Togetherness’: Jessica was ecstatic to be reunited with Ruby as the pair spent time with close friends at a rainforest retreat on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast The pair were ecstatic to be back together, both posting short Boomerang clips in which they clowned around with close friends.

Proposed Top End dam funding knocked back by Federal Government

Agriculture may provide the key for the Northern Territory Government as it seeks federal funding for a new dam to meet Darwin’s future water needs. An application to the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund to obtain support for a feasibility study into a new resource for urban water supply in the Darwin region was knocked back by the Federal Department of Agriculture earlier this year.

Report: Margot Robbie Marries Director Beau

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph is reporting the 26-year-old Australian-born Suicide Squad star wed her longtime beau, British director Tom Ackerley, in a “secret” ceremony Sunday night in Byron Bay, New South Wales, on the southeastern Australian coast. There are few details and so far, nothing on either Robbie or Ackerley’s social media to confirm the news, but News.com.au has posted what they say are the first photos from the event, showing Robbie in her wedding dress, though there are no pics of the ceremony itself.

Decline in lifejacket use off rocks a concern

Water safety experts are concerned at evidence of a dramatic decline in lifejacket use among rock fishers on Auckland’s notorious west coast. The finding comes from a just-released survey of west coast rock fishers by Auckland University researcher Dr Kevin Moran, which highlights a more than 30% drop in lifejacket use.

Risk of Australia’s first 2016/17 cyclone this week

A slow-moving tropical low in the Indian Ocean could intensify into Australia’s first cyclone of the 2016/17 season, forecasters said on Monday. The near-stationary low was situated 550 km north northwest of Karratha, an oil, gas and iron ore mining hub along Australia’s west coast, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Latrobe comes alive for Christmas fun

An estimated 2000 people still turned out in poor weather conditions for the Lions Christmas Parade at Latrobe on Saturday. Coordinator Kevin Moulden said despite terrible weather conditions, they still had 32 float entries, with an estimated 2000 people turning out to witness the event, which gave the kids the chance to see Santa.