Updated: Australia rejects Indigenous referendum
Updated: 8am (AEDT)Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia on Saturday decisively rejected a proposal to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution, in a major setback to the country’s efforts for reconciliation with its First Peoples. Australians had to vote “Yes” or “No” in the referendum, the first in almost a quarter of a century, on the question of […]
Australians take stock of flood damage amid warnings of more rain
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Thousands of Australians on Monday returned to homes and businesses to assess flood damage even as evacuation warnings remained in inland regions of the southeast and authorities warned of more rain ahead which could trigger renewed flooding. Major flood warnings are in place across many regions despite little rainfall over the weekend with […]
Flood waters swamp Melbourne as heavy rains slam three Australian states
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Thousands of people across Australia’s south-east were asked to evacuate their homes on Friday, including some in Melbourne’s west, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks. Large parts of Victoria state, southern New South Wales and the northern regions of the island state of Tasmania […]
Australian churches preparing to spread the message of Jesus’ birth with music and events
Sydney, Australia Churches across Australia will host a variety of concerts and activities ahead of traditional Christmas services this year, as a nation weary from COVID-19 restrictions celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Hobart’s Anglican St David’s Cathedral in the island state of Tasmania, will host two performances of Handel’s Messiah with an orchestra, choir […]
Australia says majority of 470-strong beached whale pod has died
Sydney, AustraliaReuters The majority of a 470-strong pod of pilot whales found stranded off Australia’s remote southern coast has died, officials said on Wednesday, as rescuers struggled in freezing waters and fading light to free those still alive. The group, which is the biggest beaching in the country’s modern history, were first spotted a wide […]
Australia counts record 470 stranded whales as rescue continues
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Rescuers trying to free a pod of whales beached off the Australian island of Tasmania said on Wednesday they had found another 200 stranded mammals, bringing the total to 470 and making it one of the country’s biggest beachings. As a rescue effort began its third day off the southern island’s rugged west […]
Around 270 whales stranded on sandbar off Australia’s Tasmania
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Marine biologists were planning the rescue of around 270 whales stranded on a sandbar off the remote west coast of the Australian island of Tasmania on Monday. Government scientists said it appeared that at least 25 of the animals, believed to be pilot whales, had already died. Pilot whales are a species of […]
POSTCARDS: IN AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA’S ABORIGINAL GROUPS ARE DIVIDED OVER NEW NAMING POLICY
ADESHOLA ORE, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Australian Christian Lobby expresses fears over Tasmania’s move to make gender optional on birth certificates
The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed fears a move to make it optional for people living in the southern Australian island state of Tasmania to list gender on their birth certificates could endanger women. Dan Flynn, the organisation’s acting state director for Tasmania, said the passing of a marriage amendments bill would now allow for “regular […]
Salvation Army appeals for funding for response to Townsville floods in Australia
The Salvation Army has launched a new appeal for those affected by the floods in the far north of the Australian state of Queensland as well as those affected by bushfires in other states. In Townsville, which is experiencing its worst flooding on record, hundreds of homes have been inundated by floodwaters and some 200 […]