CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said China is putting up the price of Australian wine in “retaliation” for Australia standing up for its values, and that’s “not OK”. China’s Ministry of Commerce, in a statement released on Friday, announced that the new measures would kick in from March 28 and last five years. Some importers will need to pay tax to China’s customs authority in a move, which as per China, is an anti-dumping measure. “Australia completely rejects what he called ‘non-tariff restrictions’,” said Morrison in a statement. “By their own admission, publicly, (this is) some form…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has made an impassioned plea to parliament to pass a bill legalizing partial DNA donations capable of stopping the debilitating and deadly disease in babies. Hunt introduced to parliament a bill on March 24 allowing “three-parent IVF” to treat mitochondrial disease. The rare disease passes on DNA mutations to babies, but mitochondrial donation can provide a way for children to be born unaffected. Labor, Liberal, and Nationals Member of Parliaments will have a free vote on the bill, giving that some members and senators have previously opposed laws that allow genetic modifications. “Here in Australia each year around…
BRISBANE CITY, Australia — An Australian motorcyclist who filmed himself doing a wheelie at 200 kilometers-per-hour (124 miles-per-hour) while overtaking cars on a Queensland freeway was fined by cops for worth more than AUD 22,246 ($17,000). Police who intercepted the rider on March 22, used footage from his helmet camera to prove what he had done. They also later found a drug crop at his home in Sunshine Coast, in southern Queensland, Australia. The man captured himself doing a wheelie at 201 kilometers-per-hour (125 miles-per-hour) while overtaking cars in a 100 kilometers-per-hour (62 miles-per-hour) zone on the Sunshine Motorway. He also filmed himself taking off and…
CANBERRA, Australia — Humans could walk on Mars before all Australian men and women earn the same money for the same work, a new report on the gender pay gap suggests. Report author and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre deputy director Rebecca Cassells says things are heading in the right direction on gender equality in the workplace. But if the average annual rate of change continues it will be a long time before the gap entirely closes. Based on the rate of change over the past seven years, it will be 2047 before full pay parity for all workers in all industries, the report warns. The…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he would be “very pleased” to meet with Brittany Higgins if she wishes while admitting he has failed to fully grasp the problem of sexism before now. Morrison said he doubted the former government staffer would wish to discuss something “as deeply private and personal” with him as her alleged rape in Parliament House in Canberra by a fellow staffer, but that she would be “very welcome” to. Higgins’ story of her alleged rape in the office of Senator Linda Reynolds and the lack of support she experienced afterwards had triggered…
CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian Unions will push for ASD 26-a-week ($20) rise in the minimum wage, warning Australia’s pandemic recovery is under threat if pay packets do not increase. The Australian Council of Trade Unions will, on Friday (March 26) make its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review. Unions want a 3.5 percent rise in minimum wage and awards for a full-time worker, which amounts to AUD 26.38 a week, as a step towards the recovery of the economy. “The increase would flow to 2.3 million people, more than 60 percent of which are women. If wages don’t increase,…
BRISBANE CITY, Australia — Queensland’s opposition has called for real-time data on hospital operations to be available online amid a surge in ambulance ramping. Surging demand for emergency department beds has led to an uptick in ramping, where 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 January 31, 2021, an 11.6 percent increase over the previous period. Health Minister Yvette D’Ath is holding crunch talks with health service chief executives, unions, and consumer groups on Thursday, March 25. She has previously blamed an…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Protesters have chained themselves to machinery and buildings, blocked intersections with coffins and clashed with police in a series of rallies across Australia, which have caused peak-hour chaos. At the top of Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge during Friday, March 26, morning rush-hour, a 17-year-old activist climbed a six-meter tripod until arrested by police. Events have also been held in Perth and Adelaide, and while rain deterred similar action in New South Wales and Queensland during the past week, more protests are planned for Sydney and Brisbane next week. So what’s it all about? After months of inaction throughout the height…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia is rapidly casting off its “freeloader” status in the collection of vital space data, with a rocket launch this week carrying one of the most complex small satellite programs ever attempted. Aussie satellites blasted off from Rocket Lab’s facility in New Zealand and so far the mission is all systems go. Working in collaboration with the Royal Australian Air Force, the University of New South Wales’ Canberra Space‘s M2 CubeSat combines emerging technologies that deliver advanced capabilities in earth observation, maritime surveillance, and satellite communications. “It will enable both University of New South Wales and the Royal Australian Air Force to gain experience and…
SYDNEY — Tens of thousands of people across the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales have been given the all-clear to return to their flood-ravaged homes to start mopping up and rebuilding. However, more than 8,000 residents were still cast from their homes on Friday (March 26) evening as evacuation orders remained in place in certain areas. Flooding has eased in many parts of the state, but orders remain around Moree and the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley in northwest Sydney. “Those returning to their flood-damaged homes should first check for damage to the roof and walls and ensure the power and gas are off,”…