HOBART, Australia — Australian state of Tasmania will review aircraft use in the state’s vast wilderness World Heritage area and seek to involve Aboriginal people in the region’s future more effectively. The state government has released its long-awaited tourism master plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). The area covers about a quarter of the Apple Isle and is considered by the World Heritage Convention as having both natural and cultural heritage of outstanding universal value. It is one of only two places globally, alongside China’s Mount Taishan, that meets seven out of ten criteria for World Heritage listing. The plan states aircraft…
Author: zenger.news
PERTH, Australia — Western Australia has received its first repatriation flight from India amid concerns about a fresh Covid-19 hotel quarantine breach. The flight arrived from New Delhi on June 2, carrying 134 passengers. They have been transferred to Perth’s Westin Hotel, where they will spend 14 days in quarantine. “We are obviously doing our best to make sure it is as absolutely watertight and safe as possible,” said Premier Mark McGowan. Authorities on June 1 revealed a returned traveler at the Pan Pacific Hotel had been infected by a neighboring guest. Genome testing confirmed two men in adjoining rooms at the end of a corridor…
SYDNEY — The New South Wales government’s chosen poison is supposed to “napalm” the mice plaguing the state, but there are fears it could also wipe out vulnerable native animals and contaminate the food chain. Under increasing pressure to help end a mice plague that has tormented regional communities for eight months, the government announced it had secured 5000 liters of the super deadly rodent poison bromadiolone. Currently, banned for agricultural use in Australia, the state has offered to provide it for free if the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority approves it for use. When announcing the measure, part of an AU$…
CANBERRA, Australia — Leader of the opposition, Anthony Albanese, has accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of risking mining exports to China by putting domestic politics ahead of foreign policy. The Labor leader will step up his criticism of the prime minister’s approach to Australia’s largest trading partner in a speech to mining industry bosses in Canberra on June 2. Albanese says Morrison has no long-term strategy to deal with a more assertive China while also finding trade co-operation in both nations’ interests. “Morrison is making the grave error of prioritizing his domestic political interests over Australia’s national interests,” he said. Leader of the…
BRISBANE, Australia — The Queensland government will join the coronavirus vaccine drive in private aged care amid concerns about the speed of the federal government’s rollout. The federal Department of Health has administered 72,772 vaccine doses in private aged care facilities as of June 1. It’s unclear how many aged care workers are currently fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Queensland. Deputy Premier Steven Miles says the state government will step in — as the Victorian government has done — to ensure all aged care workers get the jab quickly. “This has just been announced this morning, and again, this is the…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian scientists are set to help build one of the world’s most powerful ground-based telescopes, which will be able to peer back into the early universe. The new technology will produce images three times sharper than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S.A.‘s revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope, located 547km above the earth. The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned both as a vital research tool and as…
CANBERRA, Australia — Energy, security, climate, and the global economy will be on the agenda when Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends the G7-plus conference in the United Kingdom next week. The UK has invited Australia, India, South Korea, and South Africa as guest countries to this year’s G7. While in Cornwall for the international summit, Morrison is expected to meet with US President Joe Biden as well as the Japanese and South Korean leaders. On his way to the summit, the prime minister will stop in Singapore for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss regional security, trade, and…
WHAKATANE, New Zealand — Some 18 months after the deadly White Island-Whakaari eruption, the Whakatane District Court will convene to hear a Worksafe prosecution. The offshore volcano erupted in December 2019, killing 22 people who were on the island — including 14 Australian tourists. A local coronial inquest into the disaster is ongoing, while several family members of those killed are pursuing separate legal actions. However, the matter has first reached the court on workplace safety grounds. The two-day hearing beginning on June 3 will take place in Whakatane, the Bay of Plenty holiday spot closest to the volcano, where it…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand remains ahead of its modest Covid-19 vaccination targets. On June 2, new health ministry data showed the number of Kiwis to have received one shot had grown to 432,509 — or just under nine percent of the population. The Ministry of Health is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for healthcare in New Zealand. It came into existence in its current form in 1993. That places New Zealand 119th in the world. Around four percent — 235,606 — are fully vaccinated with their two doses of Pfizer. Despite the low proportions, New Zealand’s…
CANBERRA, Australia — The tax office is cracking down on dodgy company directors with a new identification system that will stick with them for life. Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan will oversee the new regime as part of a national business registry system. The program aims to make it easier for businesses to meet their registration obligations — leaving them with more time to focus on their customers and business operations. Further, it makes business information more trusted and valuable and hence helps improve the efficiency of registry service transactions. It aims to modernize and streamline the company registry, bringing together dozens of records…