SYDNEY — The end to a horror mouse plague that has tormented communities in Australia’s New South Wales is finally in sight thanks to doubly toxic bait, but farmers say they now can’t afford to finish the rodents off. Mice have been running rampant through large tracts of inland New South Wales and parts of southern Queensland, destroying crops and causing significant damage to tonnes of stored hay and grain. Torrential rain and cooler temperatures were hoped to put a significant dampener on their numbers ahead of the sowing of the winter crop, however, both have had little impact in only…
Author: zenger.news
CANBERRA, Australia — A huge area of ocean around two remote Australian territories will be protected as part of the federal budget, leaving conservationists grinning. The Morrison government’s 2021/22 budget locks in an AU$100 million ($77 million) package for protecting the oceans. It includes nearly AU$40 million ($31 million) for new marine park partnerships. The new marine parks will be off Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands and will cover up to 740,000 square kilometers (285,715 square miles) of the Indian Ocean. That’s twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Christmas Island is famous for its annual red…
Consider it a form of self-love. A parrot reacts enthusiastically while watching a video of another parrot. The parrot’s explosion of emotions was filmed in Townsville, Australia, and posted on TikTok on April 30. The TikTok user posted a 3-year-old blue parrot named Frank responding to an Indian Ringneck parrot known as Hamlet. Frank’s reaction was so distinct, it grabbed almost 2 million hearts on TikTok and 7 million views. Chris Mitchell, an animal-welfare advocate and Frank’s caretaker, said he is a rescue bird from an abusive home. “He absolutely loves eating fruit and veggies, and chili is his…
SYDNEY — A Service NSW (New South Wales) worker could face criminal charges after the state’s corruption watchdog found she engaged in serious corrupt conduct. Diana Benyamin was a customer service officer at the government agency when she accessed a restricted database to give someone’s personal information to her sister and agreed to help an old friend by transferring a car’s registration in exchange for AU$5000 ($3924). Benyamin was undone by New South Wales Police intercepts of phone calls with the family friend, Fahad Al-Dakak, from the early hours of the morning of Jan 5, 2019. Despite the pair’s use of…
BRISBANE, Australia — The Australian state Queensland government will redirect AU$ 100 million ($78.4 million) in emergency funding from the health budget to increase capacity in the state’s struggling public hospitals. Surging demand for beds has caused a spike in ambulance ramping in Queensland in recent months. Ramping is when patients are treated in ambulances on hospital driveways until beds become available. More than 1.39 million people presented at hospital emergency departments between July 1, 2020, and Jan 31, 2021, an 11.6 percent increase over the previous period. Health Minister Yvette D’Ath claims that the redirected funding will add 65 new…
SYDNEY — New economic figures will give the first precise gauge of what impact, if any, the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy has had on employment. The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its payroll jobs report on May 11 for the week ending April 24, a precursor to the official labor force report for April due later this month. JobKeeper, and the coronavirus supplement to the JobSeeker dole payment, both ended in March. Treasury has forecast up to 150,000 people would lose their job as a result of the wage subsidy ends. However, economists are growing in confidence that the strength of the…
SYDNEY — A New South Wales body modifier accused of crimes — including the death of a woman after a plastic snowflake was implanted in her hand — has again delayed his trial. Brendan Leigh Russell, 40, on May 11, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, female genital mutilation, and grievous bodily harm with intent relating to three different women. The Central Coast man’s trial was due to begin in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court before Judge Warwick Hunt without a jury. But he allowed an application by Russell’s lawyer for the trial to be vacated to enable the defense to obtain expert reports…
PARRAMATTA, Australia — A paper that exonerates logging as a major contributor to the size and severity of the Black Summer bushfires has been slammed as “opinion” and “rather unfortunate” by other academics. The research, funded by Australia’s New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry, and Environment, analyzed a third of the land burnt during the horror 2019-20 bushfire season and found topography was the primary indicator of how disastrous the impacts were, followed by weather. Researchers examined how much of the bush canopy was severely damaged in three different fire fronts in eastern Victoria, southern New South Wales, and northern New South Wales.…
NEW DELHI — Dozens of bloated and decomposing bodies, washing up on the banks of Indian rivers such as the Ganga and Yamuna, have raised fears of the Covid-19 crisis spiraling out of control and contaminating water bodies. At least 70 bodies were fished out of the Ganga at Chausa, a village in the eastern state of Bihar’s Buxar city, which borders the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as per official figures. The Ganga is a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. Aman Samir, district magistrate, Buxar, said the administration launched…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern‘s government is on the defensive over its proposal to freeze public sector wages, softening its stance after a major public backlash. Thousands of New Zealand public servants and union members have voiced their opposition to austere pay guidance issued last week. The guidance specified there would be no increases for workers above $NZ100,000 ($72,569) and no extra for those earning above $NZ60,000 ($43,541) except in limited circumstances. As for the people earning below $NZ60,000 ($43,541), which comprises 25 percent of the public sector workers, it will be a usual business. The…