Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced new support for the country’s timber industry while emphasising the Coalition’s promise to plant one billion trees by 2030 is still achievable. During his visit to a sawmill in northern Tasmania on April 14, the prime minister said the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires had impeded the progress and…

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced measures to improve the country’s fuel security, including a $250 million (US$187 million) grant to two oil refineries on the third day of the election campaign. An Ampol facility in Brisbane and the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong will share the package, with each receiving $125 million to…

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has emphasised job creation while touring manufacturing businesses in New South Wales to campaign for the federal election. The prime minister kicked off his second day by campaigning in the electorate of Parramatta, which is held by the Labor party by a 3.5 percent margin. He later moved to Macquarie,…

A new voting option will be available to Australians subjecting to COVID-19 isolation as a confirmed case or close contact on election day. The Australian Electoral Commission has said it would introduce a telephone voting system for those who could not go to polling places on May 21. “We are working on a telephone voting option,…

The Australian Defence Force will receive $575 billion (US$432 billion) in government funding by the end of this decade to deal with “a period of profound uncertainty and disruption.” More specifically, nearly half of the spending will go toward enhancing Australia’s defence capabilities. This includes $38 billion (US$28.6 billion) to increase the defence workforce by…

More young Australians now want to work in the healthcare industry than any other sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a job survey has found. Skillsroad, a website that is backed by Business Australia and several chambers of commerce and provides career advice and employment information, surveyed 5,012 young Australians, with more than 75 percent…

Politicians in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have called for a tailor-made disaster funding system to deal with the flood crisis as current structures have failed to meet the expectations of the state’s flood-stricken communities. NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the current structure for distributing relief funds had not functioned the way…

As cost of living increases in the lead up to Australia’s federal elections in May Prime Minister Scott Morrison has focussed debate on the economy. The situation comes as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was ranked similar to Morrison as the preferred prime minister, with Labor outpacing the Coalition 55 to 45 percent to become the…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to splash AU$10 billion (US$7.3 billion) on a new nuclear submarine base on the east coast of Australia, as he warns the world to be ready for a “new arc of autocracy.” In a speech to the Lowy Institute on March 7, the prime minister said the invasion of…

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is pushing hard for a “full investigation” into a maritime incident on Feb. 17 that saw a Chinese warship point a military-grade laser at an Australian surveillance plane—a hostile act normally preceding the firing of weapons, according to one defence expert. The Morrison government has reacted strongly to the incident,…