Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government on Thursday released the wording of a referendum question that promises the nation’s Indigenous population a greater say on policies that effect their lives.

Australians will vote sometime between October and December on the referendum that would enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

An emotional Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said such a body promoting Indigenous views to the government and Parliament was needed to overcome Indigenous disadvantage.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Police have charged the first Australian veteran with murder for a killing in Afghanistan three years after a war crimes investigation found that 19 Australian special forces soldiers could face charges for illegal conduct.

Former Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested in New South Wales state and charged by police with the war crime of murder, an Australian Federal Police statement said.

“It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan,” the statement said.

20 Mar 2023; MEMO: Australian authorities said, on Monday, they had arrested a former soldier for allegedly killing an Afghanistan civilian while deployed with the country's defence force there, Reuters reports.

The 41-year-old man is expected to be charged in an Australian court with one count of war crime murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail, the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

SYDNEY, Mar 17 (NNN-AAP) – The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is seeing extreme heat, with temperatures in some areas expected to near 40 degrees Celsius and fire risks to rise during weekends.

Australia’s meteorological services provider, Weatherzone, said yesterday that, two separate tongues of hot air are likely to continue impacting the eastern and south-eastern regions of the country in the coming days.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia said it’s planning to buy up to 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States after the U.S. State Department approved the sale Friday.

The deal comes days after Australia announced it would buy nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Australian officials said the new nuclear-powered submarines would be able to fire the Tomahawk missiles.

SYDNEY (AP) — Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on his nation’s plan to buy nuclear-powered submarines from the United States to modernize its fleet, saying “it must be the worst deal in all history.”

Speaking at a National Press Club event, Keating said the submarines wouldn’t serve a useful military purpose.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s defense minister said Tuesday a deal to buy nuclear-powered attack submarines from the United States was necessary to counter the biggest conventional military buildup in the region since World War II.

Australian officials said the deal will cost up to $245 billion over the next three decades and create 20,000 jobs. It comes at a time that China is rapidly building up its own military.

CANBERRA, Mar 10 (NNN-AAP) – Increasing climate hazards could pose a major threat to global coffee production, Australian scientists warned.

In a study published today, researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), found that, climate hazards increased, in all of the world’s top 12 coffee producing regions, between 1980 and 2020.

Due to climate change, hazards such as extremes in temperature and rainfall are now occurring in multiple regions.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday he plans to meet with President Joe Biden in the United States following a trip to India this week, amid speculation the leaders will make an announcement about Australia’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines.

Albanese gave few details of the U.S. trip, saying there would be further announcements about the arrangements. Albanese is visiting India through Saturday.

SYDNEY, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from multiple Pacific island countries are calling upon the Japanese government to immediately stop its plans for dumping nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean, a news agency of the International Press Syndicate Group has reported.

Papua New Guinea's Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources Jelta Wong said that there is little doubt that the nuclear wastewater will find its way into ecosystems and food chains to contaminate people and harm Pacific fisheries industries, according to a report published by InDepthNews on Monday.