CANBERRA, Australia — There is hope the Australian state of Queensland’s border will stay open ahead of school holidays as the state tries to figure out how a flight attendant was infected with Covid-19 before being released from hotel quarantine. Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said he was “very hopeful” the borders will stay open as Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria count down to the break beginning on June 26. “The Gold Coast is open for business, the residents and actually the businesses here, the hotels, are very much looking forward to the school holidays,” he told Channel Nine on…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — Australia’s New South Wales government has “baked in” 2.5 percent annual pay rises for the state’s public servants over the next four years after attempting to freeze wages to fund fiscal stimulus amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the government would on June 22’s budget return the annual public servant pay rise cap to 2.5 percent. It would then meet that cap over the budget’s forward estimates. Public servants in New South Wales last year received a 0.3 percent pay rise after the New South Wales government took the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission. The government…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne believes it is still worth taking a dispute with China over wine export tariffs to the World Trade Organization even if the federal government thinks it lacks teeth. The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations. Senator Payne says the World Trade Organization does need a number of key reforms, such as dispute settlements being made more transparent. “But what lodging the dispute enables us to do is begin dispute consultation settlements, which actually is a bilateral discussion with China about the issues,” she told…
CANBERRA, Australia — Scott Morrison has again struck out at “pretty ordinary” attempts to link him to a man involved in the QAnon conspiracy theory. Four Corners investigated his relationship with old friend Tim Stewart, who is deeply involved in the conspiracy cult. Tim Stewart bragged about getting the coded message “ritual sexual abuse” inserted into one of the prime minister’s speeches and his wife worked at Morrison’s official residence until late last year. The pair celebrated New Year’s Eve together and were scheduled to be in Hawaii around the same time. Four Corners revealed Stewart’s mother and sister were so…
BRISBANE, Australia — A Brisbane chalkboard artist who brazenly offered to create a mural honoring Queensland’s emergency services has been caught out faking top Australian honors. Neville William Gentry, 52, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fraud and one of improper use of service decorations alongside other fake credentials. Gentry was sentenced in Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 21 to 80 hours of community service. The artist’s honors scam was uncovered when he contacted the office of the Queensland police commissioner offering to create an artwork depicting emergency service workers as a way to “give back to the community”. When he met…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Just 21 seconds after a high-speed police chase through a suburban Melbourne street began, it ended with fatal consequences. Raymond Noel Taylor, 30, was thrown from his car after colliding with parked cars and an oncoming vehicle in June 2017 while officers chased behind. Taylor’s death occurred after Victoria Police introduced a new pursuits policy in 2016, following a series of recommendations from coroner John Olle. His recommendations followed an inquest into the deaths of teenagers Sarah Booth, 17, in 2006 and Jason Kumar, 15, in 2009. Olle is re-examining pursuit rules now, heading an inquest into Taylor’s…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian scientists have found a new type of molecule that could beat drug-resistant strains of malaria. Researchers at Monash University were investigating antimalarial compounds in 2018 when they stumbled on one molecule, not like the others. “We were working on trying to make inhibitors against malaria proteins when we found this by-product. It wasn’t very active, but it appeared to work differently,” Shane Devine from the Monash University said. They decided to develop more than 100 versions of the new compounds, called “2-aminobenzimidazoles”, and tested them against drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite. The most effective appeared to be “very…
CANBERRA, Australia — Obviously, Bob Dylan had other things in mind when he said, “you can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.” Yet it’s a truism Australia’s AU$20 billion ($14.9 billion) domestic tourism industry appreciates all too well. While overnight stay rates anywhere within driving distance of a capital city are hurtling towards pre-Covid levels, holidaymakers are reluctant to venture any further. That’s despite international borders being shut. It means a mixed recovery for a sector poleaxed when the pandemic hit despite ongoing government assistance. “Essentially, anywhere within a three or four hours drive of major population centers…
HOBART, Australia — Australian aboriginal heritage officers say the cultural value of Hobart’s kunanyi/Mount Wellington would be damaged forever if a proposed cable car goes ahead. The group of ten officers have voiced strident opposition to the controversial plan which is in its final throws of public consultation. The Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) wants to construct a two-car cableway with three towers to the 1271-meter summit of the mountain above Tasmania’s capital. New indoor and outdoor viewing facilities, plus a cafe, restaurant, and function center are part of the plan. A survey of the area’s Indigenous heritage, included as part of…
CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian defense force’s former head of information warfare says new laws to toughen cybersecurity “can’t come soon enough.” Retired Major General Marcus Thompson claims Australia’s reliance on overseas cyberinfrastructure has left the country especially vulnerable to cyberattacks from sophisticated state-based actors and professional criminal groups. “The threat is real, and the threat is active. The threat wishes us harm,” he said. He warned the recent Fastly outage that brought down global news websites is a timely reminder of the country’s dependence on offshore IT infrastructure. “We were dependent on a foreign entity to get that backup and running; it…