Australia & Pacifics

SYDNEY, Apr 4 (NNN-AAP) – An eighth man has been found guilty, in connection to a smuggling case in 2017, involving methamphetamine worth 1.12 billion Australian dollars (about 0.81 billion U.S. dollars), the then biggest ever methamphetamine seizure in Australia.

The verdict was issued by the Western Australia (WA) Supreme Court yesterday, against a 53-year-old man, who was accused of coordinating the collection of 1.2 tonnes of illicit drugs from a “mothership” in international waters.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Parliament created landmark new laws Thursday that will make the nation’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits.

The center-left Labor Party administration said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential to Australia reaching its target of reducing its emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade and net-zero emissions by 2050.

SYDNEY, March 27. /TASS/: The National Olympic Committee of Australia (AOC) expressed its readiness to welcome athletes representing Russia and Belarus at the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, AOC Chief Executive Matt Carroll told journalists on Monday.

According to Carroll, Russian and Belarusian athletes "will take part in the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, despite the opposition of the Australian federal government."

SYDNEY, Mar 27 (NNN-AAP) – Australia’s financial service provider, Latitude, confirmed today that, about 14 million personal records have been stolen from the company, due to a recent cyber attack.

In its update on the cyber theft incident, Latitude said, approximately 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand driver license numbers were stolen, of which approximately 3.2 million, or 40 percent, were provided to the company in the last 10 years.

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.