By Phil Mercer Sydney 02 January 2008 Australia's new left-of-center Labor government says it will review a controversial citizenship test. Some people are critical of the test's high rate of failure by applicants, who are quizzed about Australian hi...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 02 January 2008 There is cautious hope that Australia's long drought is about to break. The La Nina weather pattern has drenched parts of the arid continent in recent months. Sydney had its wettest November in more than a decad...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 19 December 2007 Australia says it intends to send planes and a customs ship to monitor Japanese whalers off Antarctica. The government says the surveillance mission will collect video and other evidence that could be used in an...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 17 December 2007 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that NATO's anti-Taliban tactics in Afghanistan are not working. The newly elected leader said it is critical that security in the troubled country be stabilized....
By Phil Mercer Sydney 07 November 2007 Australia's first urban Aboriginal record label has been established in Sydney. Its founders say there is a great untapped market for Aboriginal hip-hop and rap music that deals with drugs, violence, poor health...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 10 October 2007 Australian farmers are eager to see progress in World Trade Organization talks, they think the WTO is the best way to foster greater prosperity and open up overseas markets. Economists say that international trad...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 10 October 2007 Australia has taken its battle against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic online with a new YouTube campaign. Australia has been a fierce critic of Japan's plans to hunt 50 humpback whales in the Antarctic in the...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 04 October 2007 Australia has announced a temporary freeze on the settlement of refugees from Africa, including those from Sudan's Darfur region. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says the refugees had trouble integrating into...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 02 October 2007 Australian refugee groups have criticized tests that require people to answer questions about the nation's history and culture to qualify to become a citizen. Critics believe the new measures will discriminate ag...
By Phil Mercer Sydney, Australia 01 October 2007 Tourism officials in Australia say the number of visitors from Arab Gulf nations is increasing. Airlines are scheduling more flights between the Middle East and Australia to accommodate the rising popu...