Luckily, a lot of companies and individuals are currently stepping up to share their resources with the public to support people during lockdown. These resources include all kinds of offers from workouts to high-quality education and entertainment to mental health support. 

To help expats the world over, InterNations, the world’s largest expat community, have compiled a list of some great free services they say are especially useful in making life a bit brighter and easier in these tough times.

To ensure that expats and global minds can still spend time together and get to know each other, InterNations have themselves temporarily switched from organizing get-togethers in person to hosting online events, opening them to all members for free. About 850 online events have been scheduled around the world in April, with almost 700 have already taken place in March.

Solidarity in times of social distancing: free offers expats should not miss out on

Mental health support

Social distancing can create anxiety and have other negative effects on mental health. Especially expats in single-person households may struggle to cope with being disconnected from their usual environment and in-person support network. Many health organizations have realized the need for support and offer free online counselling or individual therapy sessions at much lower rates than usual.

TalkSpace.com, for example, one of the most popular virtual therapy companies, supports both subscribers and non-subscribers with a free coronavirus resource hub. The hub covers various topics from acute anxiety to financial issues and relationship problems in close quarters. And the mindfulness app Headspace has opened a collection of meditation, sleep, and movement exercises that are supposed to help people in crisis situations.

New skills and an Ivy League education

As an enforced lockdown can also be a great time to tick off some projects on a bucket list, many companies attract new subscribers with low rates and free lessons. The guitar manufacturer Fender, for example, gives away three months of online music lessons to the first 500,000 subscribers, and the UK’s Royal Academy of Dance offers free ballet lessons.

Expats who are rather interested in studying subjects such as data science, programming, business, health, communication, and many more should join one of the virtual courses that a number of universities have made available to the public. This includes prestigious Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Yale. Classcentral has published a list of all online courses that are currently available.

#StayAtHome workouts

Being active while staying indoors can be a challenge, but regular exercise has many benefits for everyone’s physical and mental health. As a bonus effect, it may also strengthen the immune system. To get you motivated, many gyms like Planet Fitness, Gold’s Gym, and Puregym share workout videos from their trainers for free. And for all those who prefer less intense kinds of exercise, one of the calmer yoga sessions from Down Dog might be a good match. Down Dog currently offers yoga lessons and other workouts for free until 1 May.

Socializing at free virtual events

Expats and global minds who miss socializing and want to get in touch with like-minded people can join the free online events organized by InterNations. They range from having a virtual coffee klatch together to book discussions, meditation sessions, online concerts, physical activities, and creative skills. As everything takes place remotely for the time being, it does not even matter where the attendees live. They can join the activities organized in their local community or any event around the world. Everyone can learn how to paint in Berlin, meet people from the London Book Group to discuss reading recommendations, enjoy Jane Eyre as performed by the National Theatre, talk about true love based on science in Paris, or get dance lessons from New York City’s “King of Mambo”.

Free entertainment for the kids

Keeping your kids entertained while being stuck at home all day sounds like a real challenge — especially when the local entertainment programs are in a language that your children do not speak (yet). Expat parents looking for ways to entertain their kids can have a look at Amazon Prime’s temporarily free collection of videos for kids up to the age of eleven. Additionally, Audible offers a large number of children’s audiobooks for free as long as schools are closed, including titles in six different languages.

And for those who are interested in home schooling, Scholastic has created a free open-access digital hub. Moreover, Rosetta Stone offers free three-month language courses for kids, and Minecraft has granted access to several educational games until June 2020.

Music and theater performances

No matter if you have always enjoyed classical music performed by some of the best artists worldwide or if you have become curious about discovering it — the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Viennese Opera, and several opera houses across Italy now stream operas and concerts for free. You don’t even have to dress up to enjoy the music, all you need is a proper internet connection. Last but not least, the Seattle Symphony and the National Theatre in the UK also offer free performances for their virtual audiences. 

About InterNations

With close to 4 million members in 420 cities around the world, InterNations is the largest global community and information site for people who live and work abroad. InterNations offers global and local networking both online and face-to-face. At around 6,000 official events and activities per month, expatriates have the opportunity to meet other global minds. Online services include country and city guides created by a team of professional writers, guest contributions about life abroad, and discussion forums to help members with topics such as the local job or housing search. InterNations membership is by approval only to ensure we remain a community of trust.

Find more information, visit the InterNations website

The post Essential free services for expats during the coronavirus crisis appeared first on Australian Times News.

Bluey is the most-watched program in the history of ABC iview, with series one surpassing 241 million program plays since its launch in 2018. Series 2 is screening on ABC KIDS everyday at 8am or catch up on episodes via the new ABC KIDS app, which boasts improved search features and show filters for children and parents.

Libbie Doherty, ABC Head of Children’s Content, said the Emmy Award showed that outstanding Australian stories, characters and voices resonate with children the world over. “It’s no accident that these hilarious Aussie heelers are the most popular family in the country, nestling their way into the hearts and homes of people here and overseas,” she said.

“Congratulations to the wonderfully creative team at Ludo for bringing Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit to life with such humour and care. ABC Children’s is proud to broadcast Bluey for our young viewers, helping them laugh, dance and play everyday.”   

Daley Pearson, Executive Producer Bluey and Director, Ludo Studio, said: “We’re so proud of Joe Brumm and the whole gang of beautiful artists at Ludo. They’ve created a beautiful show celebrating one of the most important things: imagination and game play. Bluey‘s created a special connection to people around the world and it’s a real privilege to be creating the show under one roof in Brisbane with our friends.

“It’s also been a secret dream of ours to create a bit of an industry in Brisbane that competes with the world. We’ve spent the last few years laying the first bricks down with Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, the ABC and BBC Studios and we’re excited to see what’s next together.”

Charlie Aspinwall, Executive Producer Bluey, said: “We’re so excited. An Emmy win is incredible recognition for Joe Brumm and each and every one of the fantastic team at Ludo Studio. They’ve poured their hearts and souls into making Bluey the show that everyone loves and we’re just so proud of this achievement and how far we’ve come.“

Bluey is produced by Ludo Studio for ABC KIDS and is co-commissioned by ABC Children’s and BBC Studios. Financed in association with Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, Bluey is proudly 100% created, written, animated and post produced in Brisbane.

The post Bluey wins International Emmy Award appeared first on Australian Times News.

APRA AMCOS, ARIA and Screen Producers Australia (SPA) are united behind local artists, songwriters and production businesses in these difficult and unprecedented times. Australian music and screen content on broadcast and streaming services has a key role to play as the community adheres to advice to stay home. People will be turning to their TVs, radios and digital devices to keep themselves entertained, informed and connected.

Also see: COVID-19: What you should and shouldn’t do if you’re in coronavirus self-isolation. Can I take the dog for a walk? Can I put the kids to bed?

“Broadcasters and digital platforms have a huge opportunity to build on Australia’s appetite for local content by exposing them to even more Australian music and screen content, ensuring that people can find it easily,” said Dean Ormston, CEO APRA AMCOS. “The depth of talent in our music and screen industries is already capturing the imagination of people around the world. By further promoting AUSSIE MADE, even more Australians can fall in love with the great Aussie content making its way around the globe.”

“With everyone at home, now is the time for all Australians to get behind our local artists and screen professionals” said Dan Rosen, CEO ARIA. “Like so many people around the country, artists and people that work in these sectors are facing a period of unemployment and uncertainty. Already thousands of live events and gigs have been cancelled and screen productions have been shut down. We have the opportunity to show we are behind them and ensure that income and support keep flowing to Australia’s vulnerable creative community.”

Also see: Australians banned from travelling overseas in latest coronavirus crackdown

“Australian content has the ability to bring people together during this crisis, provide comfort and a strong sense of community,” said Matthew Deaner, CEO of Screen Producers Australia. “With AUSSIE MADE there’s a huge opportunity for Australians all around the country to renew their love of Australian music, tv shows and movies.”

APRA AMCOS, ARIA and SPA strongly encourage all services to get behind the local industry and deliver and promote the content that will connect Australians with each other in this time of significant dislocation.

Whilst there may be some disruptions to the availability of new Australian content and music, Australia has a wealth of high quality, culturally significant content to draw upon. This period of uncertainty means that Australians have much more time to rediscover the amazing depth of talent that has been creating and producing some of the best music, television and movies in the world – let’s make sure it’s curated so that it’s easier to find and enjoy.

The post ‘Aussie Made’ campaign launches for entertainment industry in coronavirus fight for survival appeared first on Australian Times News.

Coles, Woolies and IGAs across the nation have just bare shelves where once proudly stood isles full of toilet paper. Some stores have even imposed rationing! There are also some (not-so-serious) posts on eBay and Gumtree offering resale for astonishing mark-ups – $4million to wipe ya bum, anyone?

Also see: Why are people stockpiling toilet paper? We asked four experts

Some may say “sensible”, but most people on Twitter appear to be screaming “bizarre!”. The #toiletpapercrisis certainly makes for funny, if not concerning, images and total meme heaven:

But not in Redfern…

The post Australia’s #toiletpapercrisis: the best of Twitter’s reactions appeared first on Australian Times News.

An advert for the RFS has appeared on a 20-metre high electronic billboard in the heart of New York City, the largest in North America. The space in the world famous Times Square was donated to the RFS by US company Silvercast Media.

The animated advert opens with: “Imagine fighting a bush fire higher than this billboard.” Darkened trees are then engulfed by huge flames, giving way to the message: “Thank you to the brave Australian and US firefighters defending Australia. And to the world for all your support.”

Watch video of the enormous bushfire ‘thank you’ note, below:

Also see: Heartwarming images of Aussies saving our animals following the bushfires

“We wanted to say a big ‘thank you’ to the incredible firefighters and community members who have done so much over the last few months,”  the RFS said on social media about the billboard.

“It’s been a mammoth effort from firefighters from all agencies, across all states and territories, and from the US, Canada and NZ.

“And when we say a big thank you, we mean big.

“Thanks to a very kind donation of ad space from Silvercast, we’ve taken the message to a 70 foot high billboard in NYC!”

The advert itself was created by Australian ad agency, Wunderman Thompson.

The post Bushfire ‘thank you’ advert engulfs New York’s Times Square (VIDEO) appeared first on Australian Times News.

A team of experts visited Australia last month to scope how the UK can best contribute to the response. Then, on a visit to Australia by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab this month it was announced that assistance from the botanic gardens in Kew to support emergency seed collecting in areas affected by the bushfires would be part of a package of UK support.

“This further collaboration between the Australian Seed Bank Partnership and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew will help protect Australia’s precious biodiversity following the terrible bushfires,” said Raab.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Australian people in the face of this challenge.”

Also see: Heartwarming images of Aussies saving our animals following the bushfires

Kew has worked in collaboration with Australian seed banks since 2000, sharing expertise on seed collection processes, conservation and research so that the seeds of plant species considered rare or threatened can be banked and conserved for the future.

Dr Elinor Breman, Senior Researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, said the organisation’s response to the bushfires was part of ongoing co-operation with the Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP).

“The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has a long-standing and productive relationship with the Australian Seed Bank Partnership, with whom we have worked with for 15 years,” she said.

“We offered our assistance with the emergency response to the bushfires and are pleased to be able to support their efforts, as part of our ongoing partnership to address biodiversity loss through seed-banking in Australia.

“Kew’s scientists will work with the ASBP to conduct emergency seed collecting in areas devastated by the bushfires and longer-term germination research, which will hopefully aid the international effort to restore habitats more quickly in this precious and biodiverse region.”

The post Britain’s Kew Gardens emergency Aussie seed collecting following bushfires appeared first on Australian Times News.

As the prime minister set about meeting residents of the New South Wales village of Cobargo, where a father and son were killed this week when it was savaged by the bushfires ravaging south-east Australia, he was confronted by desperate and angry residents.

Mr Morrison went to shake the hand of a woman but she declined, saying she would only do so if he increased funding for the Rural Fire Service. In the moment captured by 9News (see below), the prime minister then awkwardly forcefully grabs her hand for a shake before a man accompanying him steps in to allow the PM to move on, essentially turning his back on the distraught woman.

Other locals then vent their anger at the prime minister, hurling abuse at him, before he is ushered into a car and driven away

“Go home to Kirribilli. Why won’t that burn down?” a man can be heard yelling. “Scumbag”, screams another.

For a prime minister whose image as a leader in crisis has taken a battering since being forced to return from a holiday in Hawaii as the nation burns, it was a disaster.

In response to the incident, the prime minister later told the ABC he was not surprised people were feeling raw.

“I understand the very strong feelings people have,” he said.

“They’ve lost everything.”

The post Prime minister turns his back on distraught resident of fire ravaged town appeared first on Australian Times News.

On Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Scott Morrisson officially confirmed one of the fatalities as Australian.

“Sadly, there are 10 further Australians who are missing and presumed deceased,” he added.

ABC News reported that it was able to so far identify the number of Australians as having being killed in the tragedy as six. The two other known fatalities are New Zealanders, according to the ABC.

In a statement released through DFAT, friends of missing Australians Richard Elzer and Karla Mathews (pictured above) acknowledged their deaths, following that of their other friend Jason Griffiths (also pictured) who died in hospital from his injuries.

“We enjoyed the first five days of our trip and have many memories that will stay with us forever,” the group said in the statement.

NZ police hope to be able to return to White Island, also known as Whakaari, on Friday morning to recover the victims’ bodies still there, despite authorities saying there is a 50-60% chance of another eruption in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, many victims have been flown to Australia for treatment.

“We have already completed five medical evacuations to hospitals in Australia,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

“There will be another seven evacuations of Australians back to Australian hospitals over the course of the next 24 hours.”

The post Volcano disaster: more Australians expected to be confirmed among the dead appeared first on Australian Times News.

A page set up by the New Zealand Red Cross for families to register missing love ones in the incident had 25 Australians listed on Monday night, while ABC News and The Australian reported that 24 Australians were on island at the time of the eruption.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the government was seeking more information.

A terrible tragedy is unfolding in NZ after the volcano eruption on Whakaari/White Island. Australians have been caught up in this terrible event and we are working to determine their wellbeing.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) December 9, 2019

Up to 50 tourists are believed to have been on White Island, also known as Whakaari, in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty when the volcano began erupting on Monday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

So far, five people are know to have been killed in the incident with many more injured. New Zealand police say no survivors remain on the island following an emergency evacuation being carried out.

“Police believe that anyone who could have been taken from the island alive was rescued at the time of the evacuation,” they said in a statement on Monday night.

The Australian government’s Smart Traveller service has set up a hotline for families unable to contact loved ones. The Consular Emergency Centre can be reached on 1300 555 135, or on +61 2 6261 3305 from outside of Australia.

The post Australians caught up in NZ volcano eruption appeared first on Australian Times News.

The impressive spring 2020 tour kicks off with a massive show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 12 March, followed by gigs in Brighton, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and Oxford.

A big Cat year

It would be an understatement to suggest the past 12-months have been particularly busy for The Cat Empire. Multiple sold out tours across Europe, The Americas and of course Australia; acclaimed side projects, grant collaborations and mentoring, all while releasing a song a month from across 2018/19, which drew ecstatic responses from fans and critics alike

It’s rumoured that the reason The Cat Empire headlines major festivals all over the world is because no band is brave enough to take the stage after them.Such is the power of their live show and world class musicianship, which sees their infectious,genre-embracing anthems sweep audiences into a dancing, singing frenzy of waving arms and smiling face.

If you have seen them before, you’ll know what we are talking about. If you haven’t, well it’s about time you did and found out what all the fuss is about.

The Cat Empire UK Tour 2020

March 12th–O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire-London

March 14th-Concorde 2-Brighton

March 15th–Corn Exchange-Cambridge

March 17th–Beckett’s Student Union-Leeds

March 18th–O2 Ritz-Manchester

March 19th–O2 Institute-Birmingham

March 20th-O2 Academy-Oxford

The post The Cat Empire to rule Britannia appeared first on Australian Times News.

For this deliciously world class title fight, in the green and gold corner for Australia we have:

Pizza Shapes
Chicken Shapes
Smith’s chips (Chicken)
Frogs Alive (Red)
Cheery Ripe
Fantales

…and in the red white and blue corner for the USA we have:

Ritz biscuits
Dip & Go (premium)
Lunchables
Twizzlers
Sour Patch Kids
Fruit Gushers

Also see: Kalen reacts to Aussie foods: Vegemite, Tim Tams and fairy bread [WATCH]

Double Shapes, sure, but we can’t believe the Aussie team didn’t pull out the Tim Tams trump (geddit?) card!

Anyway, let’s find out who takes the title for tastiest treats (video, below)…

Video from YouTube BuzzFeed Oz

The post Aussie snacks vs US snacks taste-off [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Towels and keys believed to belong to Hugo Palmer, 20-years-old from England, and Erwan Ferrieux, 21-years-old from France, were found by walkers on Shelley Beach near Port Macquarie on Monday morning. The pair’s rental car was also found at the beach by police.

It is believed the two men may have entered the water to swim on Sunday night. Police have said it would be unlikely they would have survived in the water since then.

“Chances are exceptionally slim,” Inspector Michael Aldridge told media. “The conditions yesterday and the day before were terrible.”

According to 9News, a comprehensive ground and water search involving Police, the State Emergency Service as well as Marine Rescue, began on Monday, continued throughout Tuesday and was expected to resume on again on Wednesday.

It is understood the pair went to school together in London and had been travelling together since November.

Police are urging anyone with relevant information about the missing pair to contact them.

TOP IMAGE: Missing Frenchman Erwan Ferrieux and Briton Hugo Palmer. (Supplied by NSW police / Facebook).

The post Search for UK and French backpackers missing in Australia appeared first on Australian Times News.

There are things we Aussies do and say that, unless you escape your Down Under bubble, you may never even realise are just plain bizarre to the rest of the world.

For example, have your overseas mates ever wondered…

Why is our money made of plastic?

Why do Aussies walk around supermarkets barefoot?

Why is ‘high’ our second lowest fire risk rating?

Why do we swear in almost every sentence?

Why do Australians always sound like we are asking a question?

Why do we say “I’m goin’ for a feed’ as if we are animals?

Why is McDondald’s called Maccas?

Why is Burger King called Hungry Jacks?

Why do Australians have so much trouble correctly pronouncing ‘Australia’?

These and other burning questions are all helpfully answered by the delightful Aussie YouTuber Brianne Worth (who refuses to wear shoes to the supermarket).

Check out her vid, below…

Also see: Learn 50 fun Aussie slang words with Margot Robbie

The post 21 questions for Australia: answered [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The ‘Oils be playing the O2 Apollo in Manchester on 9 June and the O2 Brixton Academy in London on 13 June.

Get Midnight Oil tickets, here

Announcing the shows, following their much lauded comeback tour in 2017, Midnight Oil said they have some unfinished business.

“We really enjoyed making music together again on The Great Circle tour and the reaction from everyone was so positive that we’ve decided to do a bit more of it in 2019,” the band said in a statement.

“There won’t be anywhere near as many shows as in 2017, but we’re keen to keep performing while there are still new places to play and new things to say.

“It’s as simple as that really.”

For now, it’s mainly fans in the northern hemisphere who can count themselves lucky enough to get another decent dose of ‘Oils in 2019, with just one show so far scheduled Down Under – in the Outback at the Big Red Bash in Birdsville on 18 July.

Midnight Oil in the UK 2019

@ O2 Apollo, Manchester: Sunday, 09 June 2019

@ O2 Brixton Academy, London: Thursday, 13 June 2019

Get tickets, here

TOP IMAGE: Midnight Oil (By John Tsiavis)

The post Midnight Oil say they’re keen to keep performing, returning to the UK in 2019 appeared first on Australian Times News.

The North Queensland city has been deluged by rain since last week by a slow moving monsoonal trough, with still more to come. The nearby town of Bluewater, one of the worst affected areas, has now recorded 1800mm of rain in just seven days.

Some 1000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Townsville, some of which have experienced flood waters engulfing entire ground floors.

Townsville Floods: Two men are feared missing in floodwaters, while the risk of dangerous flash flooding continues after an overnight deluge. https://t.co/vbok9u9R3D #Townsville #7News pic.twitter.com/fwLt0ZByFi

— 7 News Central Queensland (@7NewsCQ) February 4, 2019

Authorities say certainly hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of homes have been flooded.

“If I was to say several hundred I could get that wrong — it might be thousands,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Katarina Carroll said, according to the ABC.

“Particularly when you get the aerial shots and you go into the suburbs that are effected it’s easily hundreds and it could be thousands.”

Authorities were forced to open the city’s Ross River dam floodgates on Sunday after it swelled to nearly 250% of its capacity, subjecting residents to further flooding.

The flood risk for the region could continue into next week, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

“There is an end in sight but we’re expecting further periods of heavy rainfall, some of it very heavy, about the north-east tropics for the next few days between about Cardwell and Mackay,” BOM’s Richard Wardle said on Tuesday.

Townsville residents have also been put on alert for crocodiles with some reptiles having found their way into populated areas with the flooding.

QUEENSLAND: Crocodiles and snakes have been spotted in the flooded streets of Townsville. Alina https://t.co/AQ89mb7ham

— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) February 4, 2019

"That's unreal!"

A crocodile is seen climbing a tree in Townsville, Queensland to escape raging floodwaters. Crocodile warnings have been issued in the Australian city amid "unprecedented" levels of flooding. https://t.co/5Jf0tep9uH pic.twitter.com/xu7c4K641P

— ABC News (@ABC) February 5, 2019

Visiting the city on Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters the government would be contributing tens of millions to help the city recover from the flood.

PM in Townsville on his way to the army base @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/gqwKtxVw34

— Ahron Young (@AhronYoung) February 4, 2019

“People are rallying around and that’s fantastic,” the prime minister said after meeting with some of the flood victims.

“But in the next day it’s the shock as people come back into their homes and that’s when they’re going to need emotional support from friends and family and their community.”

The post Townsville drowning in ‘once in a century’ flood catastrophe appeared first on Australian Times News.

The world famous soprano was presented with the award during a gala dinner held at Australia House in London on Saturday – Australia Day.

Also see: Thai cave rescue heroes share Australian of the Year award

Born in Sydney, Kenny made her operatic debut in 1975 before joining the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. She remained a member of the company until 1996. She has featured at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival and still spends her time in both the UK and Australia.

Kenny has won multiple Aria awards. Simple Gifts, from 1995, was the first Australian classical album to reach gold status.

Young Australian of the Year in the UK went to Oxford PhD student Jessica Buck while the Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK for 2019 is the iconic voice of cycling, Phil Liggett.

The post Yvonne Kenny honoured as UK Australian of the Year appeared first on Australian Times News.

Down Under topped the survey, beating out the likes of more exotic locations like the Maldives, Indonesia and South Africa in the social media photo popularity stakes.

Most Instagrammable Travel Destinations – Big 7

1. Australia
2. Hong Kong
3. Canada
4. Indonesia
5. South Africa
6. Maldives
7. India
8. United States of America
9. Dubai, U.A.E.
10. Singapore

The rankings were compiled using the amount of hashtags used on Instagram, survey results of travel publication Big 7’s readers and votes from a panel of travel experts.

“With its golden beaches, hip architecture and natural beauty, it’s clear to see why Oz was such a favourite with both our readers and judges,” the head of Big 7 content, Sarah Clayton-Lea, said.

Australia received an overall score of 89.98% to claim top spot. Next was Hong Kong with 86.99% followed by Canada on 82.84%, Indonesia at 81.10% and South Africa with 80.94%.

Just out of the top 10, the UK came in at 11 with 79.41%. Perhaps most surprisingly, despite its renowned natural ‘Middle Earth’ beauty, New Zealand only managed 75.84% to rank at 45th.

Interestingly, and to show the influencing pulling power of social media, the survey also revealed that some 67% of people visited a new destination after seeing it on Instagram.

The post Australia tops list as most ‘Instragrammable’ place in the world appeared first on Australian Times News.

Maybe it’s the gorgeous harbour reflecting the dazzling show. Perhaps it’s the almighty coat-hanger, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that straddles it, from which pyrotechnicians find ever more inventive ways to explode things from. Or maybe it’s just the sheer volume of outright bang Aussies put into it.

New Year’s 2019 was no exception. Check out the full video of this year’s amazing (again) display, below.

Happy 2019 from Down Under!

The post Sydney’s New Year’s Fireworks in all its blazing glory (FULL VIDEO) appeared first on Australian Times News.

Check out this video from vlogger ‘Healthy Emmie‘ who has come Down Under from Stateside to teach in Melbourne (and yes, she says it correctly). Her observations are fascinating and her admiration for the Aussie educational system is infectious.

Also see: Explore your teaching journey with Engage Education

It will make you reminisce fondly about your own school days and might even make you proud of the way we do kids education – great hours, good breaks and plenty of playtime – especially if you are a teacher.

Also see: What visa do I need to teach in the UK?

The post VIDEO: The differences between Aussie and American schools appeared first on Australian Times News.

The 35-year old was caught allegedly towing the boat down the Pacific Highway in Belmont near Newcastle on 19 October, apparently smoking a cigarette as he went, before being stopped by police.

The incident was captured by stunned onlookers who posted images on social media.

The man was charged on Wednesday with multiple offences and is due to appear in court on 9 January.

According to the ABC, the man faces charges of driving whilst disqualified, using an unregistered vehicle on the road, using an uninsured vehicle on the road, and using an unregistered trailer on the road.

At the time, media reported that the man had said he wanted to go fishing.

The post Man charged for towing boat behind a mobility scooter down busy Aussie road appeared first on Australian Times News.

In statements made in the wake of Friday’s terror incident in Melbourne the prime minister said radical Islam posed the biggest threat to Australia in terms of religious extremism.

“Religious extremism takes many forms around the world and no religion is immune from it. That is the lesson of history and, sadly, modern history as well,” he said.

“But here in Australia, we would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam.”

In interviews with Australian media on Monday, the prime minister urged the Muslim community to be more “proactive” claiming some imams and community leaders will know who is “infiltrating” and radicalising members of their congregations.

He dismissed the idea that the metal health of Friday’s attacker was the root cause of the incident as an “excuse”.

“This bloke, radicalised here in Australia with extreme Islam, took a knife and cut down a fellow Australian in Bourke Street,” Morrison told Network Ten on Monday.

“I am not going to make an excuse for that. Of course issues of mental health and all these other things are important.

“He was a terrorist. He was a radical extremist terrorist who took a knife to another Australian because he had been radicalised in this country.”

On Friday evening on Bourke Street in Melbourne’s CBD, 30 year old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali crashed a car loaded with gas bottles before stabbing three people. He was shot by police and later died in hospital. One of the victims, well known Melbourne restaurateur Sisto Malspina, died from his wounds.

In a letter given to 9News, the family of Shire Ali say he was mentally ill and was in need of help but refused it.

“Hasan suffered from mental illness for years and refused help,” the letter reads.

“He’s been deteriorating these past few months.

“He has seen a psychologist and psychiatrist, but stopped as his paranoia and hallucinations led him to believe they’re ‘after him’.

“Please stop turning this into a political game.”

Executive director of the Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations, Kuranda Seyit, while describing Friday’s attack on Bourke Street as “shocking and abhorrent”, feared Muslims were being “dragged into mud once again”.

“This is something that all of us have scratched our heads about dealing with, the federal police, the government and community leaders, it is near impossible to prevent radicalisation,” he said, according to The Guardian.

“However, we must not blame Islam for these radicalised people who take violence on to our streets.”

30-year old Shire Ali was born in Somalia and moved to Australia in the 90s. He was known to ASIO and had his passport cancelled in 2015, it is understood to prevent him travelling to Syria to join Islamic State, but was not being actively monitored.

If you or anyone you know needs help (Australia):

• Lifeline 13 11 14
• GriefLine 1300 845 745
• BeyondBlue 1300 224 636

The post PM dismisses mental health as an “excuse” for “radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam” in Melbourne terror aftermath appeared first on Australian Times News.

Topping the countries list is Sri Lanka with the notable entry of Zimbabwe at third – on the comeback trail following years of despair and turmoil before the recent removal of Robert Mugabe.

Denmark’s Copenhagen is the must visit city, topping that list, next year while Shenzen in China and Dakar in Senegal are apparently worthy options you may never have before considered.

Australia’s outback gets a mention, coming in at fourth among the regions where Italy’s Piedmont came on top.

The travel bible’s report is based on the nominations of editors, researchers, locals, and influencers. Nominations are then run down into top 10 lists by a panel of judges, who are trying to find the best places that are unique, compelling and timely.

Lonely Planet’s top 10 countries for 2019

1. Sri Lanka
2. Germany
3. Zimbabwe
4. Panama
5. Kyrgyzstan
6. Jordan
7. Indonesia
8. Belarus
9. Sao Tome and Principe
10. Belize

Lonely Planet’s best cities for 2019

1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Shenzhen, China
3. Novi Sad, Serbia
4. Miami, FL, USA
5. Kathmandu, Nepal
6. Mexico City, Mexico
7. Dakar, Senegal
8. Seattle, WA, USA
9. Zadar, Croatia
10. Meknes, Morocco

Lonely Planet’s best regions for 2019

1. Piedmont, Italy
2. The Catskills, USA
3. Northern Peru
4. The Red Centre, Australia
5. Scotland’s Highlands and islands
6. Russian Far East
7. Gujarat, India
8. Manitoba, Canada
9. Normandy, France
10. Elqui Valley, Chile

By Cameron Jenkins with Erene Oberholzer.

TOP IMAGE: Sri Lanka (Lonely Planet/Youtube)

The post Lonely Planet’s must visit lists for 2019. Where will you be going? appeared first on Australian Times News.

Also see: Miley Cyrus gets a Vegemite tattoo. She really likes Liam

Check out what he really thinks when he wraps his laughing gear around the best from Down Under (video, below)…

The post Kalen reacts to Aussie foods: Vegemite, Tim Tams and fairy bread [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

This time though it’s John Butler Trio+, now a five-piece for a new live format in support of the new studio album Home.

GET TICKETS, HERE

Check out the video from the new album’s awesome title track:

‘Home’ and expansion of the trio to a five-piece – John Butler Trio+

Revered for their superb musicianship and brilliant live performances, the John Butler Trio are one of Australia’s best and most celebrated live acts.

Following a hugesy successful tour of Australia showcasing the new live format and having completed a North American jaunt earlier this year, JBT will this month be treating UK audiences to a bigger and more dynamic live show with additional percussion and keys, capturing tunes from the new album as well as reinventing classics such as ‘Betterman’, ‘Zebra’ and ‘What You Want’.

JBT’s new studio album, Home, the first since 2014’s ARIA award-winning Flesh + Blood, is a highly personal creation with songs reflecting thoughts on family, travel, home and global issues.

“This album has been a rite of passage that I couldn’t go around, couldn’t go over, couldn’t go under but had to go through,” said John Butler.

John Butler Trio+ UK Tour 2018

12 October: Albert Hall, Manchester

15 October: University Great Hall, Exeter

16 October: O2 Academy, Bristol

17 October: Eventim Apollo, London

…plus special guests

GET TICKETS

The post John Butler Trio+ bringing ‘Home’ to the UK this month appeared first on Australian Times News.

1: Australia has spiders the size of your bloody hand!

2: We have politicians in big hats, that smile even though they’re cranky

3: Extremely aggressive drop bears are always hunting for human prey

*Tips for deterring drop bear attacks – Do one or more of the following: placing forks in the hair, spread Vegemite behind the ears, urinating on oneself, only speaking English in an Australian accent.

4: Deep down, we all have at least a little bit of this in us

5: Stuff can be stupidly expensive

6: Our snow is freaking HUGE

7: These sun bake in the backyard…

8: …and then eat crocodiles for lunch…

9: …and after, they leave their dirty clothes all over the house

10: Tony Abbott (still)

____________________________

The post 10 horrible reasons to be terrified about Australia appeared first on Australian Times News.

The illustration by Mark Knight depicts the tennis super star in a rage during her controversial US Open Final loss, with features that have been likened to stereotypical ‘Jim Crow’ caricatures common in the United States during the era of segregation, mocking and dehumanising African Americans.

Following its posting on Twitter on Tuesday by Knight the image was swiftly denounced, including by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

“Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop,” she said, referring also to another cartoon by Knight which was recently similarly criticised.

“Knight draws facial features reflecting the dehumanizing Jim Crow caricatures so common in the 19th and 20th centuries,” commentator Michael Cavna for the Washington Post wrote.

Knight was unrepentant, saying: “Don’t bring gender into it when it’s all about behaviour,” adding that he had also drawn an image making fun of Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios for behaving badly.

The executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, which publishes the Herald Sun, defended Knight, claiming it was Political Correctness gone too far.

“Criticism of Mark Knight’s Serena Williams cartoon shows the world has gone too PC & misunderstands the role of news media cartoons and satire,” he said.

The post JK Rowling joins chorus of condemnation of Australian ‘racist’ Serena Williams cartoon appeared first on Australian Times News.

Speaking to Channel Nine’s Today programme, Mark and Julie Wallace told of how their initial grief and anger at the loss of 21-year-old Sara soon gave over to a desire to create something positive.

“Sara’s name has to live on and I have to make something good out of something so horrific. This is my destiny in life now,” Julie told Today.

The pair are now setting up Sarz Sanctuary in their daughter’s honour. The aim of the new charity is to provide support for people who lose loved ones in sudden or violent circumstances.

“On Saturday, 3^rd of June 2017, our lives changed forever when our daughter, Sara Zelenak, aged 21, was killed in the London Bridge and Borough Street Markets terror attack, “the website Sarz-sanctuary.org says.

“When Sara left for the UK a few months earlier to take the ‘Aussie rite of passage’ of living and working in the UK and travelling around Europe, we never thought it would be the last time that we saw her. Sara had a passion for life and was filled with excitement for her new adventures overseas.

“We were also excited about visiting her in Europe and had planned to meet her in Paris at the end of June to climb the Eiffel Tower, eat cheese and croissants, and drink French wines. Sadly this never happened.”

The site goes on to state from Julie: “We want to honour Sara’s life and give purpose to her loss by helping others who have, like us, suffered traumatic grief. We are motivated to find a greater good from what has happened. We keep a positive outlook and want to build this positivity in others.”

In memory of Sara, her parents have also undertaken a bike ride from the place where she was slain in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris where they were supposed to next met her.

Sara Zelenak and Kirsty Boden were two Australians among those killed in the 2017 London terror attacks.

Sarz Sanctuary is taking donations at sarz-sanctuary.org

TOP IMAGE: Sara Zelenak (Via Facebook)

The post Parents of young Australian killed in London terror attack honour her memory with charity foundation and bike ride appeared first on Australian Times News.

At just after 7:30am on Tuesday morning, according to the BBC, witnesses say a car appeared to be deliberately driven into pedestrians and cyclists before crashing into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

The driver of the silver Ford Fiesta, reportedly a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of terrorist offences and taken to a south London police station.

Police are treating the situation as a terrorist incident. The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is heading up investigations with Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu saying the incident “appears to be a deliberate act”, according to Sky News (UK).

It is being reported that two people were taken to hospital while another was treated at the scene.

According to Sky News (UK), police have said the suspect was “not currently cooperating”.

TOP IMAGE: Houses of Parliament, London. (Library image/Pixabay)

The post Suspected terror car crash attack at London’s Houses of Parliament appeared first on Australian Times News.

With Gareth Southgate and his England football team heading towards their inevitable football World Cup destiny and Britain going absolutely mad for it, these ‘It’s coming home’ memes have been fueling the Three Lions fire…

C’mon lads, do it for England!

If you are from the other side of the world and happen to be new to this ‘It’s coming home’ lark, here’s a bit of history about England’s favourite football, song, ‘Three Lions’. Looking for the Best Online gambling sites, look no further.

There’s the Shawshank Redemption one…

I’ve no idea to this day what those two were singing about. Truth is, I don’t wanna know. Some things are better left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can’t be expressed in words and it makes your heart ache because of it #ItsComingHome pic.twitter.com/tghHJvkaOg

— David Brook (@brookstein88) July 6, 2018

Dorothy knows there’s no place like home when it’s coming home…

Nice meme. RT @chris_gillen: It’s coming home! ???????????????????????????? #threelions #EnglandvSweden #WorldCup18 #meme #itscominghome pic.twitter.com/1BMI7lGenH — Ebooks Memewagon (@kafebooks) July 5, 2018

Good Will Hunting sheds his tears…

Surely the best one yet… #Itscominghome pic.twitter.com/KXIyERx2gS — Carly Adno (@CarlyAdno226) July 8, 2018

Neo begins to believe it’s not just a glitch in the Matrix…

What if I told you it’s coming home? pic.twitter.com/sUjxFLkGJo — Puppy (@puppyvybes) July 3, 2018

The Wolf of Wall Street knows a sure thing when he sees it…

No idea who created this funner. ????????, whoever you are. pic.twitter.com/MJiZuICJpI

— Nick Judd (@NickJudd78) July 1, 2018

Friends will be there for England…

This is the greatest meme I’ve ever seen #eng #ItsComingHome pic.twitter.com/wydJ6cfu2k — Terry Denness (@Terry_Denness89) July 3, 2018

This time, England are going The Full Monty…

My Friday night = creating World Cup memes ???? #ifyoucantbeatthemjointhem #england #worldcup #itscominghome #footballmeme #englandfootball #fullfooty @England @GaryLineker pic.twitter.com/Pq5DddJNDR — Helen (@hmanley82) July 6, 2018

For Shrek and Donkey, it’s no fairytale…

Oh wow ???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/rozxSn8blS

— It’s Coming Home ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? (@ShaunyLong) July 5, 2018

While Mr Bean shoots one from the spot

It’s coming home! ???????????????????????????? #threelions⁠ ⁠ #EnglandvSweden #WorldCup18 #meme #itscominghome @sportbible @ladbible @Baddiel pic.twitter.com/myZVhx4gB3 — Doug87 (@RolleyDoug) July 6, 2018

 And even in a galaxy, far, far away they get the message

It’s coming home! ???????????????????????????? #Threelions #ENG #EnglandvCroatia #ENGCRO #WorldCup18 #WorldCup #meme #itscominghome #StarWars pic.twitter.com/qHUvMWsJz3 — Carl.Entwistle ???????? ???? ???? ???? (@Trotty_Bear) July 8, 2018

The post It’s coming home: 10 funniest England football World Cup movie memes [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The shocking melee started towards the end of the third quarter after an overtly physical altercation between Australia’s Boomers’ Chris Goulding and Filipino guard Roger Ray Pogoy in the World Cup qualifier in front of a packed Manila stadium.

VIEW THE EXTENDED VIDEO OF THE FIGHT AND AFTERMATH

Australia’s Daniel Kickert lashed out in response with a viscous forearm to the face of Pogoy, prompting the all-in fight.

The ensuing mayhem on the court involved players, team staff and some fans throwing punches, kicks and even chairs at each other.

When the dust settled, a number of players were ejected from the arena, leaving the Philippines to take on Australia in a bizarre three versus five farce which was eventually brought to an end by the Filipino captain fouling himself out. The Boomers officially won the match 53 – 88.

“It’s a real black eye for the sport,” Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze said after the incident, according to the ABC.

“The way in which we want the game to be projected is severely compromised.”

Gaze said he expects players on both teams to be severely punished. FIBA, the international basketball authority, are investigating.

The post Basketball punch-up mayhem: Australia and Philippines in sickening on-court brawl [FULL VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The Aussie band are set for a triumphant return to UK shores later this year as part of a swing through Europe, and have even just announced two extra dates for London and Bristol after the first ones there sold out.

The Cat Empire UK Tour 2018

– O2 Academy, Bournemouth: 14 November

– London Roundhouse: 15 and 16 November

– O2 Academy, Bristol: 17 and 18 November

Get tickets, here

____________________________________________

FROM THE VAULT: The bloke who lost his job after winning free tickets to a big night with The Cat Empire

Difficult to describe and impossible to categorise, The Cat Empire’s reputation is built upon a chaotic and fiercely uplifting live show.

That was certainly what an Aussie Times reader famously experienced on one of the band’s past shows in London; and then he lost his job for having the pleasure.

London Aussie bloke Mick (his real name withheld to protect his identity) was lucky enough to win two VIP tickets through AustralianTimes.co.uk to see The Cat Empire when they played at London’s Brixton Academy back in 2013.

“The Cat Empire is a band I had wanted to see for a very long time,” Mick told us.

“I’d never seen them; I always seemed to miss them. I was out of town when they were playing back home. This time, I wasn’t going to miss out.”

Oh, what a night!

With his hot pair of tickets, Aussie boy Mick invited a date along to the gig and apparently had quite a big night, which he claims “didn’t end badly”.

“I just loved the gig. It was a great venue to see the band.” he said.

“I used to play trumpet, so seeing the guys on the horns was absolutely amazing.”

Then, the day after…

The following morning, an extremely tired and hungover Mick, who was earning a crust as a credit controller at a London publishing company, did the only true-blue Aussie thing to do in such a predicament and phoned in sick at work.

Later that morning, his housemate tried to contact him via his work email asking about his night; and that’s where it all went wrong.

“She (the housemate) emailed asking how was my night: How was my date?… She seemed like a babe… and all that sort of stuff,” a still chuffed Mick recalled.

Cat out of the bag

Unfortunately for Mick, cyber monitors at his workplace picked up on the email and decided his nefarious real reason for skiving off work was grounds for termination.

However, instead of informing him directly, they replied to his housemate’s email informing her that he was no longer employed with them.

“When I woke up I had a whole lot of text messages,” an outraged Mick said.

“My housemate had sent me photos of the emails she’d got from my work saying I was no longer employed there!”

“I spoke to my recruitment company, but I probably would have had too many choice things to say to the lady who emailed my friend.

“She obviously didn’t let me know, but she let my housemate know.”

Asked if he regretted his big night out with The Cat Empire and calling in for a classic sickie the next day: “Hell no!” Mick assured us.

TOP IMAGE: Harry James Angus of The Cat Empire taken by Australian Times on the very night ‘Mick’ had a bit too much of a good time.

The post The Cat Empire was totally worth losing my London job for appeared first on Australian Times News.

The bottle was claimed to have been found by a group of walkers, nestled in dunes 50 meters inland around 160 kilometers from Perth near Wedge Island. It contained a message written in German, dated 12 June 1866.

One of the group which included the parents of high profile Aussie Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, Kym Illman, deciphered the message with his rudimentary German and the help of Google Translate, according to AFP.

Further sleuthing, says Illman, whose wife was first to spot the bottle, put him in contact with various museums. According to the Western Australia Museum, it can be confirmed that such a bottle was tossed from a boat named Paula about 950 kilometers from the WA coast as part of a German oceanographic survey in the 19th century.

“Extraordinary finds need extraordinary evidence to support them, so we contacted colleagues in the Netherlands and Germany for help to find more information,” assistant curator for maritime archaeology at Western Australia Museum, Ross Anderson, said in a statement.

“Incredibly, an archival search in Germany found Paula’s original Meteorological Journal and there was an entry for 12 June 1886 made by the captain, recording a drift bottle having been thrown overboard.

“The date and the coordinates correspond exactly with those on the bottle message.”

According to WA Today, the hand writing of the journal entry exactly matches the writing on the bottle’s message.

Previous to the find, the oldest known authentic message in a bottle was found in 1906 some 108 years after commencing its voyage.

Hoax or incredible coincidence?

Kym Illman is a ‘renowned “ambush marketer”‘ and is the founder of the business Messages on Hold, but he has rejected the notion that it is all a hoax, according to WA Today.

The German Maritime and Hydrographic Agency has confirmed that the message was identical to those held in their archives in terms of its wording, layout and type of message.

Mr Illman has donated the bottle to the Western Australia museum.

The post Message in a bottle found on Australian beach confirmed as genuine by museum appeared first on Australian Times News.

Check out this clip, published on Facebook, of the moment a cyclist, who News.com.au identified only as Rebecca, was taken out by a kangaroo which jumped out of the roadside scrub.

According to News.com.au, Rebecca was cycling on Friday with friends around Boonah in Queensland when the flying kangaroo collected her. While she had to be taken to hospital for stitches and a shoulder injury, the stunned kangaroo bounded away from the scene.

“Within a day she was having a rueful laugh about it all and worrying about the work days she will miss,” Rebecca’s riding companion, Helen, said, according to News.com.au.

The post Flying kangaroo takes out cyclist: Only in Australia [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The apparently lost marsupial bounced across the Sydney Harbour Bridge at around 5am.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” a caller to Sydney radio station 2GB, Michelle, said.

“I was so worried about the poor little thing.

“It was just hopping northbound in lane eight.

“I thought ‘No, no way do you see a kangaroo in the city like that, I’ve only seen them in the country’.”

Police gave chase as the wallaby (not a kangaroo) crossed the bridge from north to south, ending up on the Cahill Expressway overlooking the city’s iconic Circular Quay.

“There was a police car following it at a really slow pace and there were a lot of cars behind it,” another 2GB caller reported.

The adventurous marsupial was eventually apprehended by police and escorted to nearby Taronga Zoo for interrogation and a check up. Although stressed, it was reportedly in good health and unharmed.

So, now when someone asks ‘Do kangaroos use the Harbour Bridge?’ you can confidently say ‘Not sure about kangaroos, but wallabies most certainly do’.

The post Wallaby bounds across Sydney Harbour Bridge [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Mr Downer, Australia’s outgoing high commissioner to the UK, became embroiled in the Trump-Russia controversy when it was reported by The New York Times on Saturday that George Papadopoulos (pictured above, in London) had met with him in May 2016.

In the reportedly boozy encounter at an upmarket London club, Papadopoulos, who worked as an advisor to the Trump election campaign, revealed that he knew about ‘dirt’ Russia had on Donald Trump’s then presumed presidential campaign opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the form of hacked emails.

According to the New York Times report, when Clinton campaign emails began appearing online through Wikileaks two months later, Australian officials told US authorities about the London encounter.

According to the SMH report, Mr Downer relayed the fact of the conversation with Papadopoulos in a diplomatic cable to Canberra. Subsequently, Mr Hockey discussed it with the FBI.

It is believed that the information passed by Australia to the US about the London conversation between Downer and Papadopoulos contributed to the establishing of the FBI’s special investigation into ties between Donald Trump’s campaign, administration and the Russian government.

The Australian government is reportedly displeased that Alexander Downer has been outed as a source of information crucial to the Trump-Russia investigation.

George Papadopoulos has already pleaded guilty to lying about meetings in London to the Robert Muller led FBI special council investigation into Trump-Russia ties.

The post Joe Hockey told FBI about Trump advisor’s Russia revelation to Alexander Downer in London appeared first on Australian Times News.

Authorities have confirmed 58-year-old Mr Cousins, his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather Bowden-Page, 11, and his two sons William Cousins, 25, and Edward Cousins, 23, and pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, all perished when the Sydney Seaplanes charter went down in the Hawkesbury River on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Cousins was the CEO of UK catering company Compass, the world’s largest food services company. Formerly, he had served on the board of British supermarket giant Tesco. He had been named by the Harvard Business Review as one of the world’s best-performing CEOs. He was due to stand down as Compass CEO in March.

Mr Cousins was also reportedly a cricket fanatic and enjoying being in Australia for the Ashes.

An uncle to the two brothers, Ian Thorpe, has spoken of the grief over the family’s shock loss.

“They were just generally so kind and that to me was the most outstanding thing,” Mr Thorpe said of his nephews, Edward and William, according to the ABC.

“It’s the kindness that I liked about them; they were wonderful fellas, wonderful.

“I’m immensely proud. I’m struggling to believe that they’re not with us anymore.”

TOP IMAGE: Richard Cousines (supplied)

The post Grief for British CEO Richard Cousins and family killed in Sydney seaplane crash appeared first on Australian Times News.

London based Labor supporters showed their support for the re-election of the Annastacia Palaszczuk-led ALP state government in Queensland, posing for a photo (above) outside the iconic Big Ben which is currently being restored.

ALP Abroad President Paul Smith urged overseas Queenslanders to vote, warning of the potential influence of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation on the Liberal National Party in what polls are indicating is shaping up to be a neck-and-neck tussle.

“Vote for a Labor government they can be proud of while overseas that also has a plan to provide jobs in Queensland when they return,” Smith said.

“The stakes are high with polls showing a clear choice between a Labor government or LNP one that will rely upon One Nation for support.”

Meanwhile, speaking at the LNP campaign launch at the weekend, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the Palaszczuk government as “lazy” and “do nothing green”, claiming it was a threat to the state’s coal industry.

Voters in London can vote at the Queensland Office of Trade and Investment , Australia Centre (Australia House), Cnr Strand & Melbourne Place, London WC2B 4LG. Map

The election takes place this coming Saturday, 25 November. However, London voters only have till 6pm this Friday (London time) to have their say.

Voting times this week in London for the Queensland state election are

• Monday 6 March to Thursday 9 March (9.00am- 5.00pm);
• Friday 10 March (9.00am- 6.00pm)
• There is no voting on Saturday.

Details of other overseas booths can be found on the ALP Abroad website.

The post Queenslanders in London urged to vote this week in state election appeared first on Australian Times News.

A group of men confronted the Labor politician on Wednesday night, calling him a “terrorist” and a “little monkey” and telling him to return to his native Iran.

Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on the Today program on Thursday, Dastyari said of the incident:”It makes you feel small, it makes you feel horrible.”

“They’re the sickening face of white nationalism in this country,” he told Stefanovic.

“I worry more about the 15-year-old girl getting the school bus home today having to get this kind of abuse than a politician that’s lucky enough to have the some support structures around him.

“I’ve got a voice but a lot of people don’t.”

Dastyari says he is consulting with his family before deciding whether to lodge a formal complaint against his abusers.

The post Shocking racist ambush on Senator Dastyari, “sickening face of white nationalism” [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The iconic Australian airline this week unveiled its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet, set to fly direct from Perth to London.

The Ten news clip above shows proud Qantas CEO Alan Joyce overseeing a Qantas Dreamliner in its final assembly at the Boeing factory near Seattle in the USA. The plane is in several sections which are assembled over just a few hours at what is said to be the world’s biggest factory.

Qantas has ordered eight of the new Boeing 787-9s for its fleet.

The state-of-the-art aircraft gives Qantas range it has never before been able to offer, says Joyce, making it capable of doing the 14,500km journey from Perth in Australia to London in the UK, non-stop.

Boeing’s Dreamliner is fitted with all the latest tech, right down to humidity control and lighting that will ease the dreaded jetlag which Australia-London passengers know better than anybody.

Qantas’s first Dreamliner 787-9, officially named ‘Great Southern Land’, is scheduled to touchdown in Australia later this week.

The new planes will be restricted to Australian domestic duties for the next few months with long-haul services due to commence from December.

The post Qantas takes delivery of new Dreamliner for non-stop Australia to London flights [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The word BUMSEX was inadvertedly displayed across the envelope of a friend of Jess Wheeler who, according to 9News, uploaded an image of the cheeky envelope to Twitter.

The ABS acknowledged the faux pas as genuine, explaining it was a result of a mathematical algorithm used to generate random unique codes.

“The ABS acknowledges that in issuing 16 million barcodes it did not check and remove words and phrases that may be offensive,” Deputy statistician Jonathan Palmer said in a statement.

“The ABS apologises to the survey recipient and will issue a new form if requested.”

“The codes were issued using an algorithm generating more than two quintillion combinations (2,000,000,000,000,000,000) of letters and numbers in order to generate highly secure barcodes.

“The ABS will check newly issued barcodes.”

Response from @ABSCensus about that BUMSEX #marriageequality #postalvote barcode. #VoteYes @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/b71U8jknZW

— Jack Morphet (@JackMorphet) September 16, 2017

Woops.

The post BUMSEX appears on same-sex marriage survey papers – redfaced ABS apologises appeared first on Australian Times News.

It came as no surprise then that several Aussies were swept up in Friday’s frightening events when a terrorist planted improvised explosive device went off on a District Line train, injuring at least 29 people.

“We were standing close to the doors of the tube and then I heard some horrible screaming and saw people sprinting down the platform toward the exit,” 24-year-old Lucy Steadman (pictured above, left: Facebook), who is from Brisbane and lives in London, told News.com.au.

Ms Steadman describes how terrified commuters stampeded for the only staircase off the platform at the station.

“At that point I didn’t know what had happened yet and I thought it might be someone with a gun or a knife, so I wasn’t sure if the threat was still there or not,” she said.

“I just had to focus on staying upright because I could see people in front of me falling and getting trampled on.”

Fear soon gave way to charity though.

“When it became clear the immediate threat was gone, we started helping people who had fallen on the stairs,” Ms Steadman said.

Thank you to everyone in the crowd who helped and took leadership amidst the Parsons Green panic. We needed you

— Lucy-Ellen Steadman (@LucySteadman) September 15, 2017

Another Australian woman was making her way to Parsons Green station when the incident occured.

“I saw people start to filter out, escorted by police, they were distraught and crying,” Georgina Anile told Yahoo7 News.

“I then saw a woman being pushed on a stretcher into an ambulance and she was quite badly burnt on her legs, her hairline was quite charred.

“I have only been here for a little over six weeks so not long at all. I came straight here and moved just down the road. This is such a quiet area but people are on alert everywhere you go, I’ve noticed.”

Looks like a failed bomb attempt. Wires coming out of a bucket that exploded? #Parsonsgreen pic.twitter.com/q8U82SGfPb — Steve Quinnell (@bobandweave26) September 15, 2017

When terrorist attacks like these unfold in London, as is sadly so common recently, the fear is almost instantly shared by everyone in the expat community.

“When you see your phone having 15 messages, unfortunately a terror attack is the first thing that goes through your mind,” Will Medcalf, an Aussie teacher who is living in Parsons Green, told Fairfax.

“With the London Aussie expat community being so well connected, you start to run through the list of friends that could be involved,” he said.

“It definitely has you second-guessing yourself a lot more.”

Two Australian expats, Sara Zelenak and Kirsty Boden, were killed in June’s terror attack at London Bridge.

On Monday, police were questioning two men, aged 18 and 21, arrested on suspicion over the Parsons Green terrorist attack, according to the BBC.

It is understood the two men are Syrian refugees who were at one point in foster care in the UK, according to The Independent.

The UK terror level was lowered on Monday back to ‘severe’ after having been raised to ‘critical’ in the immediate aftermath of the Parsons Green explosion.

The post Aussie expats describe terror of Parsons Green bomb attack appeared first on Australian Times News.

Kidman picked up the gong for Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in Big Little Lies.

In accepting the award, a teary Kidman thanked her home and professional families.

“I have a huge artistic family who supported me throughout all my ups and downs,” she said from the podium. “You have been so loyal to me throughout my whole life thank you for that.”

“I have two little girls — Sunnie and Faith. And my darling Keith who I asked to help me pursue this artistic path. And they have sacrificed so much for it.

“So this is yours. I just want my two little girls to have this on their shelf and to look at it and go, ‘Every time my mumma didn’t put me to bed it’s because of this — (at least) I got something!’”

But it was her reaction to Big Little Lies co-star Alexander Skarsgard and his nod for Best Supporting Actor that appears to have gotten some fans all steamed up.

On his way to the stage to accept the award, Skarsgard stopped by his co-star with whom he shared some racy love scenes with and shared what appeared to be quite the affectionate, if quick, kiss on the lips, right in front of Kidman’s husband Keith Urban who applauded looking on.

Alexander Skarsgard Wins an Emmy for Big Little Lies — and Nicole Kidman Can’t Hide Her Excitement https://t.co/VebDm62DGn

— People (@people) September 18, 2017

Was it just me or did Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman kiss on the lips?! ???? #Emmys pic.twitter.com/pgnWh1kEU1

— Chris Rackliffe (@crackliffe) September 18, 2017

Congratulations to Alexander Skarsgard. Very much deserved. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/K5g9D5Ydv1

— Jamie Kraus (@JamieKraus89) September 18, 2017

And the rest of the 2017 Emmy winners are…

Drama Series:

“The Handmaid’s Tale”

Directing, Drama:

Reed Morano, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Actor, Drama Series:

Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us”

Actress, Drama Series:

Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Supporting Actor, Drama Series:

John Lithgow, “The Crown”

Supporting Actress, Drama Series:

Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Comedy Series:

“Veep.”

Directing, Comedy:

Donald Glover, “Atlanta”

Actor, Comedy Series:

Donald Glover, “Atlanta”

Actress, Comedy Series:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series:

Alec Baldwin, “Saturday Night Live”

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series:

Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”

Variety Talk Series:

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

Variety, Writing Series:

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

Variety Sketch Series:

“Saturday Night Live.”

Writing, Drama:

Bruce Miller, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Limited Series:

“Big Little Lies”

Directing, Limited Movie or Special:

Jean-Marc Vallee, “Big Little Lies”

Actor, Limited Series or Movie:

Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of”

Actress, Limited Series or Movie:

Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”

Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie:

Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies”

Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie:

Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”

Writing, Limited Series, Movie or Special:

Charlie Brooker, “Black Mirror: San Junipero”

Directing, Variety:

Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”

Writing, Comedy:

Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, “Master of None.”

Reality Competition Program:

“The Voice”

Television Movie:

“Black Mirror”

The post Nicole Kidman wins Emmy and award for steamiest celebration appeared first on Australian Times News.

Beach-goers were (mostly) delighted to find the toothy fish cracking laps in Manly’s swimming rockpool on Monday after animal rescuers dropped it in for safe-keeping.

Just a #GreatWhite casually swimming around our #Manly pool!!! #SharkSave #CrowdPuller pic.twitter.com/P2I1seDwAL

— Hannah Wood (@hanwood) September 11, 2017

According to a report on the ABC, the shark is about 1.5 meters long and may be suffering from a broken jaw.

Incredible scenes at #Manly pool after an injured shark washed up on shore & rescued @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/BHTbelfVkW

— Samantha Brett (@samanthabrett) September 11, 2017

The baby great white had earlier been washed up on the famous Manly beach, apparently injured, and refused to return to the ocean. One brave bloke was filmed trying to show it the way, gamely dragging it into the surf by the tail.

The most Australian of men, trying to save a beached young (bigger than me) great white. #manly #7NewsSydney #alwayssharkweekhere pic.twitter.com/x2Im7eiYQ5

— Kristin Rogers (@kristinrogers85) September 11, 2017

Rescuers from Manly Sea Life Sanctuary were soon on the scene. They stretchered the shark to the nearby Fairy Bower pool where it took up exclusive residency (ie: the pool was of course subsequently closed) to allow it to recover.

Manly: Photos of the baby great white shark being placed by animal rescuers into the Fairy Bower Pool. Photo Credit: Al Kay. #7News pic.twitter.com/L0ScZT5XGl

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) September 11, 2017

The shark became an instant social media sensation…

Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with baby GREAT WHITE SHARK in the Fairy Bower rock pool in Manly! ???????????????? – – – #manly #shark #manlybeach #greatwhiteshark #eyespy #nature #sealife #wow #manlyaquarium #sydney #fairybowerpool #landscape #injured #blueskies #thatview #eye #sunshine #spring #sea #ocean #waves #pool #beach #beachdays #lunchrun #fitgirl #healthy #fitness #instaanimal #beautifulday

A post shared by Ali (@ali_kate___) on Sep 10, 2017 at 10:04pm PDT

When you want to go for a swim but there’s a shark in the pool. #manly #shark pic.twitter.com/t8IRHWBUci

— Ryan James (@ryanjamessydney) September 11, 2017

Shark in #Manly bower pool right now. She just washed up on Manly beach. Beautiful to see such a gorgeous animal pic.twitter.com/T51gVsAZMq

— Alex Martiniuk (@AlexMartiniuk) September 11, 2017

The post Great white shark takes up residency in Sydney pool appeared first on Australian Times News.

Apparently seeking to generate debate (and headlines) about the place of Muslim culture in Australian society, when she took off the black Islamic cloak, Ms Hanson – whose political career is founded on xenophobic stances on a number of issues – goaded Liberal Attorney-General George Brandis, asking if the government would back her policy of banning the burqa.

See the video, above.

The reply from a visibly furious Mr Brandis was swift and brutal.

“Senator Hanson, no, we will not be banning the burqa,” he said sternly.

“I am not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in a burqa when we all know that you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith.

“I would caution and counsel you with respect to be very, very careful of the offence you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians.”

“We have about 500,000 Australians in this country of the Islamic faith and the vast majority of them are law-abiding good Australians.

“Senator Hanson, for the last four years, I have had responsibility pre-eminently among the ministers subject to the Prime Minister for national security policy.

“And I can tell you, Senator Hanson, that it has been the advice of each director-general of security with whom I have worked and each commissioner of the Australian Federal Police with whom I have worked that it is vital for their intelligence and law enforcement work that they work co-operatively with the Muslim community, and to ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments is an appalling thing to do.

“I would ask you to reflect on that.”

The speech was met with a standing ovation from his opposition Labor and Greens senators on the other side of the chamber.

Later on radio 2GB, Ms Hanson sought to explain her burqa wearing stunt.

“It is foreign to us. This is not our way of life. And so many in the suburbs of Sydney, if you are honest about it, if you are not a Muslim, you really don’t want to go to these places because you don’t feel welcome there,” she said.

Earlier this week, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party was listed in an annual report published by the United States State Department as an organisation that was a threat to religious freedom.

The post Pauline Hanson’s outrageous Senate burqa stunt ridiculed by shocked colleagues [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

In response to reports on the ABC that police had launched the raids to pre-empt a travel warning, a government official said “any suggestion that Australian authorities took action to disrupt the terror plot because of pressure from international partners is absolutely wrong,” according to Fairfax Media.

“Authorities took action when they determined necessary and not under threat or pressure from any third parties. Public safety was the top priority,” he said.

Australian police arrested four men on Saturday after raiding properties in Sydney. The men are suspected of planning to bomb a plane, however no charges have been laid as yet (Tuesday).

The group of suspects are believed to have family connections with Syrian based jihadists.

Khaled Khayat (top photo, left), who has been reported as the leader of the alleged plot, has a brother who is believed to be a senior fighter with Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

One of the other arrested suspects, Mahmoud Kayat (top photo, right), is understood to be related to Mr Khayat.

The other two men being held by police following the operation are reported to be Abdul El Karim Merhi* and Khaled Merhi. Both men are understood to be related to Ahmed Merhi who is believed to also be fighting with ISIS in Syria.

*UPDATE 02 August: Abdul El Karim Merhi was released from custody on Tuesday night (Australian time) without charge.

The group’s alleged plans appear to have been well advanced and they may already have made an attempt to get a bomb onto a plane, according to one expert.

“We have a quite sophisticated terrorist conspiracy, in contrast to several of the more low-tech unsophisticated conspiracies which have been thwarted in Australia in recent times,” security expert Neil Fergus told the ABC’s 7:30 programme on Tuesday night.

It is believed Saturday’s counter-terrorism raids were conducted following intelligence shared with Australia by the United Kingdom and the United States.

Gulf states airline Etihad Airways has also been co-operating in the investigation.

“The Etihad Airways aviation security team is assisting the Australian Federal Police with its investigation and the matter is ongoing,” the airline said in a statement.

“Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely.”

Since the raids, security has been beefed up at Australian airports. Passengers have been advised to arrive earlier than usual for both domestic and international flights in anticipation of longer waits for security checks.

The post Australian government denies threat of British travel warning forced early counter-terrorism raids appeared first on Australian Times News.

If you havent seen it already, ABC (Australia) reporter Chris Uhlmann delivered this searing assessment of the US president’s performance at the G20 meeting in Germany last weekend.

In it, Uhlmann pulls no punches, coming to the conclusion that the so-called ‘leader of the free world’ has abdicated that very role, saying the isolated and friendless Trump had “no desire and no capacity to lead the world.”

The report went viral in the United States and around the world within hours. Check it out:

“We learned that Donald Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline of the United States as a global leader,” Uhlmann says.

“He managed to isolate his nation, to confuse and alienate his allies, and to diminish America. He will cede that power to China and Russia.”

By the end of the summit, Uhlmann says it was a G19, rather than a G20.

Following the report, some in the US media – incredulous enough at the ongoing behaviour of their scandal ridden president – asked Uhlmann to confirm his assessment.

“Well it was certainly the way that I saw it,” Uhlmann told MSNBC.

“And it was the way that a lot of other delegations saw it, as we had conversations, obviously, around what was going on at the G20.”

Check out his full interview with MSNBC:

Uhlmann also spoke to the Washington Post about his report:

The post Aussie journo stands by his damning assessment of Donald Trump, that he has “no capacity to lead the world” [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

In a tweet following the audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday, Mr Turnbull said: “Although I am a Republican, I am also an Elizabethan. It was an honour to meet Her Majesty today at Buckingham Palace.”

Although I am a Republican, I am also an Elizabethan. It was an honour to meet Her Majesty today at Buckingham Palace. pic.twitter.com/2oMYjEu0ww

— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) July 11, 2017

“Politics is full of unpredictable events,” Mr Turnbull had mused during a press conference before the palace visit.

“All I can say is … most Australian republicans are Elizabethans as well.”

The prime minister said he would keep the conversation between himself and the Queen private, as per protocol.

“I obviously look forward to her advice and wisdom,” he said ahead of the meeting.

“She’s after all known and advised many, many prime ministers.”

Prime Minister Turnbull’s meeting with Queen was the last official engagement on his brief visit to London following the G20 conference in Germany over the weekend and a stop off in Paris to meet the new president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

Among his engagements in London, Mr Turnbull also paid a visit to the London Bridge and Borough Market area where two Australians lost their lives and two others were injured in the recent terrorist attack there.

During the London visit, it had been rumoured that former prime minister Tony Abbott may be offered the position of Australian High Commissioner to the UK in order to lure him away from politics as a means to prevent him undermining Mr Turnbull’s leadership.

The post Republican Turnbull says he is ‘Elizabethan’ upon meeting the Queen appeared first on Australian Times News.

According to reports, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may offer his in-party adversary the plum job to tease the former PM away from parliament in an effort to put an end to the continued undermining of his own authority.

“It is the time-honoured political tradition, when someone is being a pain, respond by giving them the best job in the world,” Seven Network political reporter Nick McCallum said on Monday.

According to some reports, a push is being mounted from within the Liberal Party to get Mr Abbott to take the job ahead of a speculated cabinet reshuffle in September.

Queensland MP Michelle Landry, who has been a supporter of the former prime minister, became the first government parliamentarian to publically call for the move.

“It’s probably time for (Mr Abbott) to move on,” Ms Landry said on monday, according to The Courier Mail and The Morning Bulletin.

High Commissioner to the UK is one of Australia’s most coveted post-political life postings. The residential position in London is currently held by Alexander Downer, another former Liberal Party leader who himself was given the position by the government when it was led by Tony Abbott.

Mr Abbott was in fact born in London to a British father and Australian mother, the family moving to Australia when he was a toddler. Mr Abbott later returned to Britain to study at Oxford University.

Mr Abbott has visited the UK on several occasions since being ousted from the Liberal Party leadership and prime ministership by Malcolm Turnbull, to give speeches – not without controversy – to conservative gatherings.

Mr Abbott’s critiquing of his party as led by Mr Turnbull has gained in intensity in recent weeks in interviews and speeches, including the offering of his own political manifesto which he claims, Tump-like, will “make Australia work again”.

“We need to make Australia work again,” he said in a speech to the Institute of Public Affairs in Brisbane in June. “Because our country is plainly not working as it should.”

TOP IMAGE: By MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy) – Tony Abbott (16), CC BY 2.0, Link

The post Will Malcolm Turnbull offer Tony Abbott the UK High Commissioner role to shut him up? appeared first on Australian Times News.

From Brisbane, Ms Zelenak had been working in London as an au pair before being tragically caught up in Saturday night’s atrocity.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had confirmed in a radio interview on Wednesday morning (Australian time) that a second Australian was among the seven people killed in the attack, but that the name could not yet be made public at that time.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that Australian nurse Kirsty Boden was one of the seven dead from the attack, having been slain by the knife wielding terrorists while going to the aid of other victims.

It had been widely reported that Ms Zelenak was still missing since Saturday night and her family were preparing for terrible news.

On Wednesday afternoon (Australian times) Ms Zelenak’s mother, Julie Wallace, who had travelled to London after funds were raised in a GoFundMe campaign, confirmed her and the nation’s worst fears.

“Sara Zelenak is confirmed dead, they found her body & has DNA tests confirmed. Thank-you for all the overwhelming love & support from everyone,” she wrote in a moving post on Facebook.

She said how excited Sara had been about coming to the UK. Ms Zelenak was due to go on a Contiki trip around Europe before returning home in August.

“Unfortunately cut short by a senseless act of terrorism,” Mrs Wallace said, adding, “It makes no sense.”

In addition to Ms Zelenak and Ms Boden, Candice Hedge from Brisbane and Andrew Morrison from Darwin were victims of the London terror attack; both stabbed in the neck but recovering.

It is understood there are no other Australians are among the seven killed and 48 wounded in the attack.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an interview with 3AW radio on Wednesday that he had personally been in touch with the families of the two dead Australians.

“We are heartbroken by these terrible crimes and by this terrible loss,” he said.

“This is heart-rending. This is the last thing that anybody expects to happen to their children in London.”

The post Sara Zelenak confirmed as second Australian killed in London Bridge terror attack appeared first on Australian Times News.

There are two Australians “about whom we have very real concerns” the prime minister said on Monday, according to the ABC, adding there was nothing else about them he could say at present as investigations continued.

“We have been in touch with their families, in close touch with their families, as we seek to find confirmation of their circumstances,” he said.

The Australian government has confirmed that four Australians are known to have been among those caught up in the attack by terrorists on London Bridge and nearby Borough Market area on Saturday night.

Of the four, Candice Hedge from Brisbane is recovering in hospital after surgery while Andrew Morrison from Darwin received stitches. Both were stabbed in the neck by the terrorists.

The identities of the other two Australians has not yet been made public.

On Monday it was being reported that 21-year-old Sara Zelenak from Queensland was last seen at London Bridge on the night of the attack and had not been in contact with family or friends since. It remains unclear if she is one of the two unnamed Australians referred to by the prime minister as being affected by the terror attack .

At around 10pm on Saturday night, three men mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge with a rented van before crashing it and running into the nearby Borough Market area on a murderous stabbing rampage.

Seven people were killed and some 48 injured in the attack before the terrorists were shot dead by police.

Prime Minister Turnbull said in his remarks that of some 130,000 Australians living in and visiting the UK, many of them would have been in the vicinity of the weekend’s attack.

Describing the terrorist atrocity as a “corruption of Islam”, Mr Turnbull said Australians stood defiant.

“We will never change the way we live. We defy these cowardly criminals. We defy them and we reject the poisonous ideology that they peddle,” he said.

Speaking to the BBC promocode winline on Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May described the incident as “an attack on the free world”.

TOP IMAGE: London Bridge was the scene of Saturday night’s shocking terrorist attack in London. (Via Pixabay)

The post London terror: Grave fears for two of four Australians caught up in attack appeared first on Australian Times News.

A stunned NSW north coast fisherman had to be rescued on Saturday after this thumping great white shark jumped clean out of the ocean and straight onto his 5.5 metre recreational fishing boat.

The 73 year old man from Evans Head was found by Marine Rescue about 1 nautical mile off-shore, covered in blood with the 2.7 metre long beast laying across the deck.

Marine Rescue NSW posted an account of the rescue on Facebook. We will let them take up the tale…

“Whilst on route (back to shore) the fisherman explained that at the time of the incident he was sitting on an esky located in the centre of his boat when suddenly without warning the 2.7 metre Great White Shark jumped out of the water clearing the engine and landing on the deck where it violently thrashed about.

In the process, it knocked the stunned 73 year old fisherman onto the deck as well.

Fighting to get to his feet and as far away from the shark as possible, the fisherman was relentlessly knocked about the deck and cabin which is where he sustained most of his injuries.

Eventually the fisherman was able to clamber up onto the port side gunwale of the boat where he remained while the shark continued to thrash about the deck of the boat.

The fisherman was able to contact the Evans Head Marine Rescue Tower on channel 16 via a handheld VHF marine radio where the rescue was initiated and coordinated from.”

The go on to say that the shark’s carcass would be used by the Department of Primary Industries for research and that the fisherman would make a full recovery.

“Thankfully the fisherman only suffered fright and a number of lacerations which resulted in a few stitches. However he now has an amazing survival story of “the one that didn’t get away………..”

___________________________

All photos: Via Marine Rescue NSW on Facebook

The post Greatest fishing story ever: This great white shark jumped straight into an Australian fisherman’s boat appeared first on Australian Times News.

The packaging and recycling magnate from Melbourne is worth a cool $12.6 billion, knocking property king Harry Triguboff off top perch with his paltry fortune of just $11.45 billion.

Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, comes in this year at number three with her $10.41 billion.

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the top 10 richest people in Australia have a combined net worth of $77.16 billion. To put that into perspective, it equates to 4.3% of Australia’s entire annual GDP.

The net worth of everyone on the 200 strong Australian rich list, which this year boasts a record 60 billionaires, is $233.1 billion.

Australia’s Top 10 Richest People (AUD)

1. Anthony Pratt – $12.6 billion

2. Harry Triguboff – $11.45 billion

3. Gina Rinehart – $10.41 billion

4. Frank Lowy – $8.26 billion

5. Ivan Glasenberg – $6.85 billion

6. Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest – 6.84 billion

7. John Gandel – 6.1 billion

8. Hui Wing Mau – 6.00 billion

9. James Packer – 4.75 billion

10. Stan Perron – 3.90 billion

Combined wealth of top 10 Australians – $77.16 billion

Source: Financial Review Rich List, 2017

Gina Rinehart is the only woman in the top 10. The next richest woman in Australia is her daughter with a measly $2.74 billion.

The youngest person on the AFR Australian Rich List 2017 is 33-year-old foreign exchange broker Owen Kerr who chips in with $342 million to scrape through at 200th.

Pratt fact: In 2016, the Australian Taxation Office revealed that despite more than $2.5 billion in revenue in 2013-14, Pratt Consolidated Holdings had not paid any taxes. In response, Pratt said, “All I can say is that we abide by all the laws, as any good ethical company does.”

Pratt in the USA: Earlier this month, Anthony Pratt received a standing ovation from US President Donald Trump at an event in New York City marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, for his pledged investment of USD$2 billion (AUD$2.7 billion) in the US.

The post Anthony Pratt tops 2017 list of Australia’s richest people appeared first on Australian Times News.

Singing ‘Don’t Come Easy’, the Indigenous Australian teenager overcame some nerves in the 1st semi-final to claim one of the 25 places in the annual competition’s big finale’ on Saturday night (European time).

View the video of Isaiah performing at Eurovision, above.

OMG GRAND FINAL !!! #Eurovision #SbsEurovision ???????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/qaeF5MOIZm

— Isaiah (@isaiahofficial) May 9, 2017

The Eurovision song contest is held each year in the country that won the previous year; so this year in Ukraine.

This is the third year running that Australia has been invited to compete in the competition and the third year running that its contestant will feature in the grand final. Guy Sebastian represented Down Under in 2015 and Dami Im was runner-up in 2016.

17-year-old Isaiah was the winner of 2016’s Australian X-Factor talent TV show.

The post Australia at Eurovision: Teenager Isaiah through to grand final [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

In a joint press conference with Australia’s prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which was postponed by several hours due to the US House of Representatives passing a bill designed to dismantle so-called Obamacare and probably throw some 20 million Americans off health coverage, President Trump proclaimed Australia’s health system to be better than that of the United States.

“I should’t say this to our great gentleman, and my friend, from Australia, coz you have better healthcare than we do,” Trump said to a beaming Turnbull in front of reporters in New York.

Does Mr Trump actually understand how our system (Medicare) operates? Does he realise it’s pretty much the kind of universal healthcare system that his opponents on the left, who want to go further than just Obamacare, call for?

And Bernie Sanders had a field day. Watch the clip, above.

Hell, does he even remember Malcolm’s name? Doesn’t look like it.

Since the remarks, the president’s aides have sought to clarify what he said, as they so often are called upon to do…

“The President was complimenting a foreign leader on the operations of their healthcare system. It didn’t mean anything more than that,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later.

“I think he believes that they have a good healthcare system for Australia,” she added.

“What works in Australia may not work in the United States.”

Probably not the right time to bring up our gun laws, huh.

The post Trump tells Turnbull Australian universal healthcare is better than US, Bernie Sanders laughs appeared first on Australian Times News.

Several reasons have been given for the dramatic fall in the numbers of pilgrims this year. As well as the heightened fear of terrorism following a specific threat being made against the Gallipoli Anzac ceremonies as well as a recent string of terror attacks in Turkey, political unrest in the country following last year’s attempted coup and the fact that so many people attended the centenary event two years ago may also have contributed to the vastly thinned out crowd.

This year Foreign Minister Julie Bishop led the tributes this year on behalf of Australia at Anzac Cove.

“As we gather here this morning we each pay tribute to the men and women of our armed forces who have carried on the Anzac tradition for the past century and more — that spirit of courage, mateship, endurance and sacrifice that has forged our national character and identity,” Ms Bishop said.

“April 25 is etched into our calendar as a most sacred national day, not by a government edict or decree, but through the deep understanding of generations of Australians that this horrendous sacrifice was made in our name and for our nation, our freedoms, our democratic values and our way of life,” she added.

Ms Bishop was moved to tears when laying wreaths at the graves of fallen Australians at Lone Pine.

“Gathered in this most sacred of places, the graves of our warrior soldiers nearby, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the terrible legacy of war,” she said.

“We owe it to each and every ANZAC who fought here – in our name, for our people – to honour the fundamental freedoms, democratic ideals and way of life that they defended and that we have inherited,” she added.

TOP IMAGE: Anzac Day at Gallipoli – Dawn Service (File image)

The post Numbers dramatically down at Gallipoli Anzac Day, but ceremony no less emotional appeared first on Australian Times News.

Currently, there are some 19,000 British citizens working in Australia under the 457 Visa program.

The controversial 457 Visa system for temporary skilled workers will be replaced by two new two-year temporary skilled visas as well as a 4-year higher skills visa, according to Mr Turnbull.

The new system would be “rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest” the prime minister said.

Current 457 Visa holders would not be affected, according to the ABC.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed the proposed changes, including reducing the number of occupations eligible for a skilled worker visa, saying they were aimed at stopping what he called the scheme’s “open-ended” nature and what he argued were too many cases of an eventual “migration outcome”.

“What we propose is that under the temporary skills shortage visa short-term stream there will be a two-year visa, with the options of two years, but there won’t be permanent residency outcomes at the end of that.”

According to the Department of Immigration, of some 95,000 457 Visa holders currently in Australia almost 20% were from the UK. Also, 20% are from China while the largest proportion hailed from India at around 25%.

TOP IMAGE: Via Pixabay

The post 457 Visas to be axed and replaced, says Australian government appeared first on Australian Times News.

Presenter Natasha Exelby’s hilarious reaction when she realises the cameras are back on following a late night ABC News 24 story has gone viral.

It happens to the best of them, right? The next day Exelby Tweeted about her late night news faux pas:

Thank U all for ur generous support. Not my finest hour. Myself and my mesmerising pen honourably salute you!

— Natasha Exelby (@NatashaExelby) April 10, 2017

But apparently her ABC employers have not seen the funny side of the gaffe, standing Exelby down from further on-air roles, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Fellow journalists, seemingly as shocked as Exelby was in the graveyard hours of the Saturday night shift, have lept to their comrade’s defence:

My career would have ended with my first country radio job if I’d been punished like this for a much worse but still innocent blooper. https://t.co/MHKwcAemmG

— Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) April 10, 2017

Utterly ridiculous. I’m not just sticking up for Tash because she’s one of my best friends, but she is a natural, professional presenter https://t.co/PHBV4QNXnI

— Daniela Ritorto (@danielaritorto) April 10, 2017

And even the alternative prime minister has chimed in:

It’s live TV. This is just ridiculous.https://t.co/xy6dp7nKwi

— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) April 10, 2017

The post Stunned Aussie newsreader banned after ABC blooper appeared first on Australian Times News.

Having made a name for himself in his native New Zealand before staking a claim on Australian TV, most famous for his deadpan turns in the Clarke & Dawe political sketches, Clarke was also a familiar face in Australian film and a prolific writer.

One of his most famous mock interview tussles with his regular sparring partner Bryan Dawe was the one where “the front fell off” (view video above).

The clip originally aired in 1991 but took on new life once YouTube came along, bringing it to a global audience some of whom thought it was a real politician being interviewed, which surely says more about the politicians Clarke so enjoyed lampooning than the viewers.

John Clarke died of natural causes while hiking in Victoria’s Grampains National Park on Sunday. He was 68.

The post The one where ‘the front fell off’: Remembering the great John Clarke [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

In this instance Ms Hanson was invited to be in a selfie photo with someone she thought was a keen supporter of her right wing agenda. But when it came time to smile and say cheese, it turns out this voter was a little more critical than she had hoped…

Source: Facebook / Jut Armstrong

The post Pauline Hanson pranked: “Say, I’m a racist” [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Apart from a few charity appearances, the ‘Oils have been on hiatus for the best part of two decades. This is the most anticipated return in Aussie music and the world can’t wait.

Like the rest of the world tour, the first London show at The Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith on July 4th sold out in no time over a month ago. Now the band have laid on a second show to satisfy hungry fans on July 23rd but you will need to get in quick.

Get Midnight Oil tickets now, here

Seeing Midnight Oil in full flight is to experience the transcendent, kinetic power of live rock & roll. They leave you inspired to live life more passionately and to get involved.

It’s great to have the boys, their power and their passion back on stage, in our ears and in our faces!

The post Midnight Oil live in London: Second show now on sale appeared first on Australian Times News.

According to Robert Whitmore, his wife and mother of his 4-year-old Australian daughter is being ordered by Australian immigration authorities to return within 3-weeks to her native Ghana from where she fled out of fear of the grotesque practice of female genital mutilation.

And all due to a mistake on her visa application, according to Whitmore.

The deportation order leaves the them with two stark family splitting choices – either mum goes back to Africa on her own, leaving their daughter without a mother, or the daughter goes with mum back to Ghana where she too will face the prospect of genital mutilation as well as leaving her father and home behind.

“My world has been shattered – my wife and 4-year-old daughter, an Aussie citizen, have been given three weeks to leave the country. They’re being sent to Ghana and a tribe who still practice female genital mutilation,” Whitmore states on the petition page he set up, soliciting public support to the family’s cause.

“The Immigration Department has left us with a cruel decision – leave our baby girl without her mum. Or send her to Ghana, where she’ll face female circumcision,” he states.

“It’s not a decision any parents should have to make. So I am begging you – please sign to support help our family stay together and stop this cruel deportation.”

“Immigration Minister Peter Dutton can’t be this heartless to send a 4-year-old Aussie kid to face this horrific, dangerous practice.”

At the time of writing, the petition had gained almost 31,000 signatories with just over 4,000 need to reach the goal of 35,000.

Visit the petition page on Change.org

The post Aussie dad petitions immigration minister to stop wife and child facing genital mutilation appeared first on Australian Times News.

This amazing photo shows a rather large bull shark left on the road this week near Ayr, just south of Townsville in north Queensland, in the wake for the category 4 storm.

Think it’s safe to go back in the water? Think again! A bull shark washed up in Ayr. Stay out of floodwater. #TCDebbie #ifitsfloodedforgetit pic.twitter.com/DpP29Va1JG

— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) March 30, 2017

According to the Qld Fire & Emergency Service, the shark was left stranded there after flood waters receded.

The post Sharknado for real! Check out what Cyclone Debbie dropped on the road appeared first on Australian Times News.

The cyclone hit the mainland near travel hub Airlie Beach in the early afternoon, having moved over the Whitsunday islands in the morning.

Rated by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) as a category 4 storm (the second highest level) as it approached the coast from the east, it had been downgraded to a category 3 system by the late afternoon. According to BOM, the storm was generating heavy rain and consistent winds around 155kph with gusts up to 220kph. 260kph gusts had been recorder early in the day.

Reports of damage and injury were beginning to filter through on Tuesday evening, with one man known to have been seriously injured near Proserpine.

“A gentleman has been badly hurt by a collapsing wall at Proserpine. We don’t know the condition of the person at this time,” Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart told media.

“We need to understand we are going to get lots of reports of damage and injury, if not death, and we need to be prepared for that,” he added

Residents in and near the cyclone’s threatened area are being reminded that the danger is not over and are urged to remain indoors.

Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk also warned Queenslanders to be prepared for the aftermath of the storm’s fury.

“We’re going to see the impact of Cyclone Debbie for the next three to five days as it travels down the coast and these winds can even end up as a low-pressure system right along the coast of the south-east corner here,” she said.

TOP IMAGE: Radar image of Tropical Cyclone Debbie (BOM)

The post Cyclone Debbie pounds tropical Queensland with 200km+ winds appeared first on Australian Times News.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Australia’s parliament on Thursday a German national who resides in South Australia was among the victims.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the ABC that the woman, who has not yet been named and is recovering in hospital, narrowly avoided death when she had her foot run over by the terrorist as she tried to flee as he drove a vehicle through crowds of people on Westminster Bridge.

WARNING: Some people may find images in the video disturbing

Five people were killed and around 40 were injured in Wednesday’s atrocity when the terrorist ploughed a vehicle along the pavement on the bridge, before crashing it and running into the grounds of the nearby Houses of Parliament.

There he stabbed and killed police officer Keith Palmer before being shot dead by police.

The post London terror attack: Australian resident among injured appeared first on Australian Times News.

The body of 35-year-old Warren Hughes was found on Monday after his small boat was discovered without him on Saturday near Innisfail in north Queensland. It is understood he had been attacked by a crocodile while diving.

Rangers captured and killed a four-metre croc on Tuesday night in relation to Mr Hughes’s death, according to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.

The attack occurred over the same weekend and near the same town as the crocodile attack on 18-year-old Lee De Paauw.

Mr De Paauw says he jumped into the Johnstone River’s crocodile inhabited waters to impress a female British backpacker, Sophie Patterson. He escaped with a serious injury to his arm after punching the crocodile.

“Risking your life, there is nothing funny about that. I’m not impressed by somebody risking their life,” Ms Patterson told Channel 7.

TOP IMAGE: Warren Hughes (Via Facebook)

The post Big croc believed responsible for diver’s death captured and killed appeared first on Australian Times News.

The post I’ve got a question for all those refugees that want to come to Australia… [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

But the winner was really Moonlight, whose makers were eventually given the gold statuettes only after La La Land‘s producers had delivered their acceptance speech.

#envelopegate #OscarFail they cant even honor themselves without screwing it up. serves them right! pic.twitter.com/ysMoFnhFkc

— Lucid Hurricane✘ (@Lucid4Trump) February 27, 2017

The epic fail capped off a typically hours and hours upon hours long Oscars ceremony that was this year regularly punctuated with digs and put downs of the newly installed President Donald Trump and his deeply controversial administration.

The typical Hollywood lefty elite taking free swings at the alt-right poster boy. Well, until the gripping #OscarsFail climax, and then Trump’s riled up cheer squad had a field day…

The Hollywood elite were so busy calling Trump a racist, they forgot to give a black man the biggest award of the night #Oscarfail #Oscars pic.twitter.com/epyBhMKkDT

— The New Right (@newrightcrusade) February 27, 2017

He was so worried about getting his political comment in that he couldn’t even read the card! ???? #envelopegate #Oscarfail

— Riya sharma (@riyasharma266) February 27, 2017

Well that’s kinda like the election, they all thought clinton was the winner then boom! ????
American voters Trump on all of them.#oscarsfail

— Riya sharma (@riyasharma266) February 27, 2017

#oscarsfail An evening of smug Trump bashing ending in the biggest award screw up
Liberalism in real life
A failure

— Patrick Brannon (@PrescottBobcat) February 27, 2017

Oscars started off w/this but quickly went downhill. Can I just say Karma lol. #oscarsfail #envelopegate pic.twitter.com/NrmhJaNind

— My Opinion Matters (@MyViewMatters2) February 27, 2017

Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States!! Whoops. It’s Trump! Analogous to #oscarsfail Stupid liberals hahaha!

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) February 27, 2017

I can’t organize cards or even read them but let me tell you what to believe and how to run a country – #Oscars #oscarsfail #MAGA #Oscar2017 pic.twitter.com/oL156VwHwS

— Jeffrey Knott (@JfKaboom) February 27, 2017

#oscarsfail BREAKING NEWS: CNN reporting that Donald Trump and Russia interfered with oscar presentation for best picture.

— FED UP!!!!!!!! (@jerrypane13) February 27, 2017

All I can say is I am glad the Liberals who run Hollywood aren't running our great country. Total disaster! God bless @POTUS. #OscarsFail

— Greg Mazares (@GregMazares) February 27, 2017

Liberals want to tell us how and who should run the country? I don't think so, you can't even get a stupid awards show right #OscarsFail pic.twitter.com/oecLyuRw0l

— ????????AmericaFirst???????? (@rod_burket) February 27, 2017

#OscarsFail What a bunch of idiots! I love it when you take low blows at one man all night and then karma gives you a little tap!

— Fred Koerber (@KoerberFred) February 27, 2017

“I’m swapping the envelopes” #ryangosling #Oscars2017 #oscarsfail pic.twitter.com/ARNa0NZTix

— Pa(Trice) Be (@TriceBe) February 27, 2017

The post Trump supporters get gleefully brutal about #OscarsFail appeared first on Australian Times News.

The world’s best beaches have been graded for 2017 by the good people at TripAdvor. The popular travel site uses its users’ reviews over the past 12 months, in quantity and quality, as a measure.

The best beach in the world is said to be Brazil’s Baia do Sancho, followed by Grace Bay in Turks & Caicos Islands (no, we’d never heard of the islands either and just had to look them up on Google maps – see here) and Eagle Beach in Aruba, as second and third respectively.

While Australia is well represented on the list, we had to wait till #17 to find our best beach – Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island.

Here’s the top Aussie beaches in order; Queensland claims five, including the top three.

TripAdvisor’s Top 10 beaches in Australia for 2017

 

3. Main Beach, Noosa, QLD (Image courtesy VisitNoosa.com.au)

 

The post Australia’s 10 best beaches for 2017 revealed appeared first on Australian Times News.

No, we are not kidding. Check out the amazing video below posted to Facebook by the restaurant on Sunday after this huge goanna decided to see what was on their menu, to the shock of diners.

Luckily one of the waitresses was straight on to the pesky intruder, grabbing it by the tail to escort it off the premises to the screams and applause of the paying guests.

According to the restaurant the brave waitress, who is from France, is named Samia but now goes by the nickname ‘Goanna Girl’.

You go, Goanna Girl!

The post Brave waitress drags huge goanna out of restaurant by the tail [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Let this cute as apple pie, all American Tim Tam fan explain…

Double tap if you LVE TimTam Slams! We found some Tim Tams at @target and couldn’t wait to get home to make our FAVORITE winter treat. #timtamslam @timtam @timtam_us

A post shared by Favorite Family Recipes (@favoritefamilyrecipes) on Jan 3, 2017 at 2:41pm PST

Meanwhile, to bring the Tim Tam addiction to more Americans, Arnott’s have taken to employing the likes of this tech vlogger to sing its chocolatey praises…

What ever happened to not telling anyone where the Tim Tam’s are?

The post Cutest Tim Tam slam ever, USA style [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

In the video posted to Facebook (below), check out how happy the road crew are when this young fella and his mate takes it upon themselves to deliver some much needed refreshments to the thirsty diggers.

So Aussie…

“There you go. Have a lovely day, mate!” – so polite, too.

The post So ‘Strayan: Top bloke rescues road crew in heatwave with special delivery [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Maybe you and Malcolm got off on the wrong foot? He’s a loser and won’t be around for long anyway; total disaster.

Look, we know you’re terrific. Really, we have a lot in common and we love you… bigly.

So please watch this video – like you, it’s the best – and perhaps we can get along.

Courtesy friendlyjordies via YouTube

The post Hey Trump, let’s do ‘America first, Australia second’. You’ll love it, bigly [FUNNY VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The phone call between the two leaders last Saturday was intended to last an hour. Instead the president ended the conversation after 25 minutes, apparently fuming over the deal struck with the outgoing Obama administration for the United States to take in 1,250 refugees who have been held in the controversial detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island on behalf of Australia, according to The Washington Post.

“This is the worst deal ever,” a belligerent Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Turnbull who was trying to confirm whether the arrangement would still be proceeding in light of the immigration and travel ban the president had implemented the previous day, barring entry to the US for all refugees as well as citizens of seven muslim majority countries.

According to report which cites senior administration officials as sources, Mr Trump accused Australia of trying to export “the next boston bombers”.

The president reportedly told the prime minister that he had spoken with a number of other world leaders that day and that: “This was the worst call by far.”

The report also says Mr Trump took the opportunity to brag to the leader of one of the United States’ staunchest allies about the size of his election win and the number of people at his inauguration.

Mr Turnbull has again insisted that the refugee deal, in which the US takes the Manus and Nauru refugees while in return Australia accepts a number of refugees from Central America, will go ahead.

“That assurance was confirmed by the president’s spokesman in the briefing room of the White House,” he told a press conference in Melbourne on Thursday.

When asked about the phone call with Mr Trump, Mr Turnbull said: “It is better these conversations are conducted candidly, frankly, privately.”

In an interview on the ABC’s 7:30 report on Wednesday night, the prime minister claimed to have Mr Trump’s word over the deal and pointed out that it had been backed up subsequently by the president’s spokesman.

“We have a conversation between the prime minister and the president. The president gives an assurance. We have a confirmation of that assurance given by the spokesman given in the White House briefing room. That’s what I’m basing my remarks on,” he said.

TOP IMAGE: US President Donald Trump on the Oval Office phone to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The president reportedly hung up abruptly after 25 minutes. (Pete Marovich/European PA/Pool)

The post Trump blasts Turnbull and hangs up in “worst call by far” appeared first on Australian Times News.

The controversial ban was enacted by executive order from the new president on Friday.

The ban excludes refugees and nationals from seven muslim majority countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen – from entering the United States for at least 90 days. It includes people who hold dual citizenship in one of those countries along with any other nation.

It is unclear whether more countries will be added to the ban list.

The ban has been met with howls of protest and derision, both from within the US and abroad, over its discriminatory nature and the immediate effect it has on people; including, for example, separating families who live in the US who include one or more people holding such citizenship.

By Monday, the United Kingdom and Canada both announced that they had secured for their dual national citizens an exemption from the extraordinary new measure.

Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, announced on Monday that she too was seeking such an exemption.

“I have directed our officials in Washington DC to work with US officials to ensure any preferential treatment extended to any other country in relation to travel and entry to the United States is extended to Australia,” she said, according to Fairfax Media.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was careful to not cast a direct opinion about the radical US policy.

“It’s not my job as Prime Minister of Australia to run a commentary on the domestic policies of other countries,” Turnbull told reporters on Monday.

He then added about Australia: “Our commitment to multiculturalism, our commitment to a non-discriminatory immigration program is well known … so that’s where we stand. That’s our policy. But our borders are secure. That is the bottom line,” he said.

ILLUSTRATION: Amykins via Pixabay

The post Australia asks Trump for dual nationals exemption from immigration ban appeared first on Australian Times News.

CAUTION: Some people may find the footage disturbing.

A man and a woman, the pilot and only passenger, were killed when the Grumman G-73 ‘Mallard’ sea-plane nose-dived into the river at around 5pm.

The plane broke up on impact, to the shock of an estimated 300,000 onlookers who were assembled on the river’s banks awaiting a special Australia Day sky show which was subsequently cancelled.

The post Australia Day plane crash: aircraft plunges into Perth river [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The (until now) little known biomolecular scientist is responsible for groundbreaking work in the area of stem-cell research and spinal cord injuries, based on his research of smell.

Queenslander Professor Mackay-Sim (pictured above) studied the biology of smell for over 20 years and ultimately proved that regenerating nasal cells could be transplanted into the spinal cord.

The research led to the world’s first successful restoration of mobility to a paraplegic sufferer. Polish fighter Darek Fidyka was able to walk again in 2014 following treatment based on Professor Mackay-Sim’s work.

The feat was compared by a colleague involved in the surgery to the moon landing in terms of its scientific importance.

Best wishes to Prof Alan Mackay-Sim for @ausoftheyear announcement tonight. Please support life-changing research at https://t.co/2faMKNuc0P pic.twitter.com/9FJrf7X4t5

— Griffith Alumni (@griffithalumni) January 25, 2017

“Sixty years ago, Australia was one of the first countries to move away from the idea that spinal cord injuries could not be treated,” Prof. Mackay-Sim noted in his speech accepting the honour on Wednesday night in Canberra.

“Intense research in the last 20 years gives hope that future spinal cord injuries will be treated early and the effects minimised,” he said.

At the ceremony, Australia Day honours were also given to Vicki Jellie as Australia’s Local Hero, Sister Anne Gardiner as Senior Australian of the Year, and Paul Vasileff as Young Australian of Year.

Before receiving the Australian of the Year award, Prof. Mackay-Sim told The Courier Mail “I’m not into celebrity”.

“Obviously it’s a great recognition for a life’s work for me and my team and all the people I’ve worked with over the years but then you wonder, well, gee, I’m just one scientist who’s been plucked out,” he said.

The post Australian of the Year 2017 is Professor Alan Mackay-Sim appeared first on Australian Times News.

A billboard advert for a government Australia Day event featuring the image of the hijab wearing young girls was removed from its Melbourne location earlier this week after the company responsible for it, QMS, was threatened.

In response, an online GoFundMe crowd campaign was launched for the sign’s return. The fundraising gathered over $100,000 within the first 12 hours, surpassing the stated goal of $50,000.

Now the sign is expected to be displayed again at the same spot within days, with more set to be put up in other Australian cities and maybe even be published as adverts newspapers.

Holy shit we did it. Australians are decent and tolerant and generous! pic.twitter.com/ZG7itobj5P

— Dee Madigan (@deemadigan) January 18, 2017

“I’m overwhelmed and just incredibly heartened I guess because it feels like sometimes the bastards are winning,” fundraising organiser Dee Madigan said, according to the ABC.

“Then when this happens you just think, ‘No they’re not, there’s a whole lot of really good people out there’.

“They put pressure on to take one down, we’ll put 20 back up.”

“The people who complain about Muslim Australians not assimilating were the ones who complained about two Muslim girls holding an Australian flag celebrating Australia Day,” she added.

However, the image has attracted further controversy from the other end of the political spectrum, with some critics citing the plight of Indigenous Australians and the fact that for many of them Australia Day on 26 January is a day of dispossession.

Anti-Islamophobia advocate Mariam Veiszadeh, who supported the campaign to return the sign, sought to acknowledge the other side of the debate, posting on Facebook that she had “not in any way, intended to ignore or ‘whitewash Australia’s dark past’ and the injustices committed against the first Australians.”

Immigration minister Peter Dutton told 3AW radio that he loved the image.

“I think it’s great that we’ve got young boys, young girls from whatever background who are embracing Australian values, flying the Australian flag, proud to be Australian, proud to be part of our society, want to be part of a peaceful future in this country,” he said.

The post Australia Day hijab girls billboard to go nationwide after successful crowdfunding campaign appeared first on Australian Times News.

Tim Mullen, from Perth, told 9News he initially thought the gunshots were fireworks until they came closer and fellow clubbers began to run and scream. [see video above. WARNING some readers may find scenes to be distressing]

“You could hear the gunshots getting close and then they were, like, directly behind us maybe within five metres,” said Mullen.

“I know that I ran past four victims and there was at least two others behind me that I didn’t see, where or not they are all dead or not, I’m not sure.”

According to Mexico News Daily, five people were killed and 15 wounded when a gunman opened fire at the Blue Parrot nightclub which was celebrating the end of the BPM festival  – a music and hospitality industry event that draws up to 70,000 people – in Playa Del Carman.

There are conflicting reports as to the motive of the alleged shooter; whether it was about paying cover charge or some other confrontation that led to the incident which occurred at about 2am on Monday morning (local time). Police are investigating.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that no Australians have been reported as being injured in the incident.

Playa Del Carman is a popular spot on Mexico’s east coast, commonly visited by tourists.

The post Aussie traveller tells of Mexico shooting horror appeared first on Australian Times News.

This highly venomous Red-Bellied Black Snake poked it’s head out from under the bonnet to take a look around, terrifying the driver.

But what else do you do, but just keep on driving while videoing the stowaway.

“Driving from Adelaide to Mundoo Island Station, 100km/h, with an hour still to drive, a snake popped up in front of me from under my bonnet,” the driver posted on Facebook along with the video.

“It scared the living daylights out of me!

“He stayed with us all the way and could not be coaxed out of the engine well.

“I have left my car in the middle of a paddock and hope that he finds his way out tonight.

“He is a big red-bellied black snake.

“Petrified would sum up my nervous state for the hour I had to drive.

“I was hopeful that new cars don’t have any gaps that a snake could move from the engine well into the internal section of the car!”

We think he’s adorable. Just don’t let it bite you… you might die.

The post Driver ‘petrified’ by Red-Bellied Black Snake hitching a ride to the Outback on her car [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Thankfully we get to admire their amazing street-front, AC/DC themed Christmas lights displays, all fully synchronised with thumpin’ Acca Dacca choons, from the safety of our computer screens.

What can we say, it’s the silly season… ROCK!

For those about to open their Xmas prezzies, this house salutes you

This one gets extra marks for near perfect syncho on the beats. An absolute Yuletide belter!

Highway to jingle hell

This top 2016 effort is a genuine Aussie entry on Santa’s Acca Dacca set list. At 55 Rudd Road in Shepparton, they have a proud history of AC/DC themed displays. Oh, and extra points for the totally off the hook flame!

Be Thunderstruck by these Christmas crackers

Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum. Every little drummer boy and girl will be Thunderstruck by these two pieces of AC/DC Christmas lights dynamite.

This second Thunderstruck inspired display really takes the Christmas cake. Yes, our Kiwis cousins really can go bigger and better. They even charged an entry fee for this one (yep, seriously).

Santa Gets Back in Black

You know the words to this carol…

“Back in black,
I hit the sack,
I’ve been too long, I’m glad to be back”

“I keep looking at the sky,
‘Cause it’s gettin’ me high,
Forget the herse ’cause I’ll never die.”

“Sack”. “Never die”…. You see, Back in Black is actually about Santa!

Oh, this is all rather silly. And so is this production .. but we absolutely love it.

Also see: Top 5 bonza Aussie Christmas songs that make you feel homesick 

Also read: Why Australians should be proud of AC/DC

Also read: Bon Scott – Australia’s greatest hellraiser

The post Yule totally rock out to AC/DC with these seriously OTT Christmas lights displays (WATCH) appeared first on Australian Times News.

If you’re not one of the tens-of-millions of people around the world to be gobsmacked (pun intended) by the clip already, take a look (above). It’s astonishing.

In it, a bunch of hunters scramble to find their dog, which is not so small itself, which they find being held in a headlock by a burly male kangaroo.

One of the hunters jumps from the vehicle to intervene. When he approaches, the man-sized marsupial gives one more kick to the dog before releasing it to turn its attention to the human.

The man and beast face up, Ali vs Frazier style. The man makes the first strike, clopping the ‘roo with a mean hook punch straight to the head.

The dazed kangaroo takes stock before deciding it might be best to leave the ring.

Viewers the world over – over 28 million just on this YouTube posting, then add those who have viewed duplicate postings, Facebook versions and even on TV – have been left to pick their jaws up off the floor and ask: ‘Is it real or face, though?’

In this dawning of the Trump/Post-truth era, it’s a fair question.

Well, according to reports, it is indeed for real.

The increadible footage was apparently taken during a trip hunting wild pigs for a guy named Kailem who was suffering from terminal cancer.

“Basically Kailem wanted to catch a boar,” hunt organiser Mathew Amor said of the June trip on a property in country NSW, according to News.com.au.

“And so a few of us got together to take him out, and another mate filmed more than an hour of video to put together as a DVD for Kailem and his family of the trip.”

Sadly, according to the report, Kailem died from cancer earlier this month.

According to the information on the YouTube post, Kailem’s last wish was to catch a 100kg wild boar (which are a feral pest in Australia) with the dogs. The video is part of the “treasured memories his family and friends have” of the hunt.

Since the video became a global sensation this week, it has been revealed that the man who got into the tangle with the kangaroo, Greig Tonkins, works as a zoo-keeper at one of Australia’s best known wildlife parks.

His employer was forced to release a statement after concerns were raised about the ethics of punching a wild animal.

“Taronga Western Plains Zoo can confirm that Greig Tonkins is an employee at Taronga Western Plains Zoo,” a spokesperson for the zoo said in a statement.

“Good animal welfare and the protection of Australian wildlife are of the utmost importance to Taronga.

“We are working with Mr Tonkins to understand the exact circumstances of the event and will consider any appropriate action.”

“My mate only stunned it,” Mr Amor said, according to News.com.au, in defence of Tonkins.

“His hand was OK, he didn’t hit it very hard at all.

“It was funny because the guy who did it is the most placid bloke. We laughed at him for chucking such a sh*t punch.”

And that’s how it goes, in #Straya.

The post Real or fake? Bloke punching kangaroo in the face to save his dog [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

Brothers Jesse and Jackson George were on Sunday found in posession of the youngest of the fragile little creatures while driving in Sydney.

Police say the theives broke in to Symbio Wildlife Park on Friday night and took a four-week-old baby (the one first found with the George brothers) as well as its 10-month old sister and adult father.

According to NSW police, the 10-month old marmoset has also been recovered but the adult is still missing. [UPDATE 29 NOV: The adult pygmy marmoset has also now been found alive and well]

The two brothers faced court on Monday where they both pleaded guilty.

Zoo keepers were in shock upon discovering the missing monkeys after their theft on Friday night. They feared expecially for the wellfare of the youngest, being just four-weeks old.

Upon the tiny monkey being reunited with its mother, zoo staff posted on Facebook: “Mum cradled the baby straight into her arms and bub immediately began to feed.”

TOP IMAGE: Via NSW Police

The post Baby marmosets safe; brothers plead guilty to monkey theft appeared first on Australian Times News.

Speaking to the Today show, Daniel tells the tale of how he chased the suspects who had crashed a car into the shop next door, dressed only in his jocks.

His mate’s mum has had the shop for 40-odd years! He’s just like, mate, like….

The post Meet Daniel, the dead-set suburban Aussie undies hero, mate [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

According to Nine News, the 18-year old is Jamie Murphy from Perth. It is being reported that he was arrested after security guards at a Kuta nightclub allegedly discovered a satchel on him contianing a small amount of white powder.

Footage of Murphy being searched by security and police has been released. In it, the teenager can be seen to be sitting in a chair, restrained with his hands behind his back, while the guards remove his bum-bag, in the presence of what looks like a police officer.

When they open the bum-bag, a small plastic zip-lock baggie can be seen inside.

Whe one of the guards removes the baggy into the open for the camera, Murphy can be heard protesting: “Are you kidding me? It was not like that.”

Indonesian authorities have been very vocal in recent weeks about Australian school leavers coming to Bali to party for Schoolies, warning them that they faced jail if caught with drugs.

Australia’s relationship with Indonesia over drugs arrests in the country have a choppy recent history, with the notorious conviction and imprisonment of Schapelle Corby and the execution of Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran just last year.

Both of those high profile cases were for trafficking significant amounts of drugs, however Indonesia’s laws are very strict and if Murphy was found guilty of posession of even the small amount seen in the video, he could nonetheless be facing jail of a year or more.

IMAGE: Library image from The3Cats

The post Aussie schoolies teen arrested in Bali for suspected drug posession appeared first on Australian Times News.

The video released this month titled The Impenetrable Fortress is typical of other call to arms propaganda produced but ISIS to stir up fear and support for its cause.

In the film, footage of Australia’s second biggest city, including images of the airport and St Paul’s Cathedral, are disturbingly edited in between footage of explosions and skirmishes in what appear to be battles involving the rogue organisation.

Melbourne is the only Australian city featured in the video.

In recent weeks ISIS has been in retreat across its self-proclaimed caliphate, particularly in areas around Mosul in Iraq where Australian forces have been operating as part of a US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces.

“They’re hoping, it would seem, by putting Australian scenes in a propaganda video, somebody in Melbourne or Sydney will look at that and be tipped over the edge into trying to do something,” Islamic politics expert Professor Greg Barton of Deakin University said.

“While such materials are disturbing, Victoria Police is not aware of any direct threat to the Victorian community or infrastructure at this time,” a spokeswoman for the state’s police force said in a statement.

The post Melbourne targetted in new ISIS propaganda video appeared first on Australian Times News.

The furry fiend was hiding out in a bag belonging to a woman who was arrested by officers of the Upper Mount Gravatt Tactical Crime Squad.

The woman claims she found the juvenile gum leaf munching marsupial nearby and had picked it up to take care of it.

The suspected cute bomb appeared to be in good health and was handed over to the RSPCA for further questioning.

PHOTOS: Alfred the baby Koala. (Qld Police)

The post Cutest arrest ever: baby koala taken into police custody appeared first on Australian Times News.

Skip to 2min, 48secs in the video above

No we are not making this up, nor do we condone it… at all. But this is what you can take home with you after a big night out on the town in Las Vegas if you visit the exotic pet store featured in this vlog.

The vlog was posted on YouTube about a week ago by Codee Yount. See the video above and skip to 2:48 to see the furry little jumpers. (Tip: don’t bother with the rest of the clip, it’s really rather dull)

“Yo, they have like fuckin’ kangaroos here. Look at that shit,” the behatted and bespectacled young American gentleman observes.

“Dude, thirty-five hundred bucks? Yo, what if I bought a kangaroo?”

“I think my next purchase is gonna be a little kangaroo. I really, really wanna get one of these,” he adds.

Back in the car, carefully considering his options for his next exotic pet aquisition, Mr Yount says: “I think a wallaby, like a baby kangaroo, would be dope.”

He then explains: “I want a talking that can be like ‘Arr, fuck you Codee’.”

Yes, quite. Go for the bird, mate.

While keeping a wallaby or a kangaroo as a pet is entirely legal where the clip was filmed, in Australia it is only legal in Victoria, the Norther Territory and South Australia, and only if you have a licence to do so.

The post How much for a wallaby? Tell ’em they’re dreamin’ [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

“Right now, they’re not sure if they will stay together,” the representative said in a statement.

Rumours have been circulating for months that not all was well between the glamour couple.

On Thursday, Australian magazine Woman’s Day reported that their engagement was over, citing unnamed sources.

It was alleged Packer had dumped the multi-Grammy winning performer after a fight in Greece over “her new reality TV show Mariah’s World and extravagant spending” last month.

However, in the statement released later on Thursday, Carey’s rep denied there was friction over spending and insisted there were no allegations of cheating either. But they did confirm that the couple had been apart since the row in Greece.

“Mariah and James had a fight in Greece, and have not seen each other since,” the statement read.

“The fight was not because of any cheating allegations or excessive spending by Mariah. James is one of the most successful businessmen in the world. They are trying to work it out.

“Right now, they’re not sure if they will stay together. They are discussing it, and plan to release an official statement together about their future.”

After going public with their relationship in 2015, Packer and Carey celebrated their engagement in January this year with a $10 million diamond ring that the singer said was “so heavy I can’t lift my arm up!”

According to Woman’s Day, James’s mother, Ros Packer, had “struggled to connect with the singer”.

The magazine also claims that Packer will be letting Carey keep the ring.

The post It’s over: Mariah Carey and James Packer bust up confirmed appeared first on Australian Times News.

The idea of the launch stunt at London’s Victoria Station was to create a dinky-di Aussie beach in one of the transport hubs of the UK capital. There were a few problems though – there was no sand, no surf and the life savers were all poms.

Even the station security weren’t keen, for some reason taking exception to the camera tripods of the media that did show up.

When Australia’s High Comissioner to the UK rolled up to lend his support, he asked if any of the young men and woman sporting the iconic red and yellow outfits of our beloved surf life savers were Australian. Sorry, mate.

It was up to Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steve Ciobo to attempt to shine some Aussie brightness on proceedings.

“On a dark, grey morning in London, we wanted to highlight the bright blue skies and white beaches of Australia,’’ he said of the new $10 million dollar, three-year campaign to entice more backpackers to come to Australia for a working holiday.

“It’s a chance to reinforce what a great time it is to come to Australia,” he said.

“We’ve reduced the cost of working visas and people can stay for up to two years to stay and work in a variety of places across Australia.”

The campiagn aims to encourage more European youth travellers to come to live and work Down Under after a fall in numbers over recents years.

There are currently around 40,000 british travellers taking advantage of Australia’s working holiday scheme, however the government says it needs to increase that number.

The campaign coincides with the recent announcement by the Australian government to abandon a planned special tax rate hike on backpakers earnings to 32.5% which some analysts had blamed for deterring visitors before even being implemented.

According to Tourism Australia, a recent survey founds more than half of young British adults would consider a temporary move abroad to travel or work post-Brexit. They cited Australia as their most preferred place to do that outside of Europe.

The hired celebrity pulling power of the campaign is Made In Chelsea star Lucy Watson.

“I’m basically here to promote to my fellow UK residents the working tourist visa in Australia,’’ she said at the launch event, according to News.com.au.

“People need to know about this scheme. If more people knew then definitely more people would make the journey,’’ she said.

Although having never been a working holiday backpaker herself, Ms Watson says she has been to Australia and has family there.

In any case, it is hoped with her 2 million-plus social media followers Ms Watson will be able to get the Aussie message out to the youth of Britain.

They will just have to wait till they get Down Under before they meet some real Australians; apart, of course, from the thousands of Aussies who are right now in London on their own working holidays, who may have happily donned the red and yellow at Victoria Station to add a dash of authenticity to the event.

The post Aussie tourism London beach stunt for backpackers falls a bit flat appeared first on Australian Times News.

If the emails are genuine – the Democratic Party has been obscure as to their authenticity without flatly denying so – they suggest Rudd was seeking council from the US political powerbroker around the same time as his bid for the position of United Nations general secretary, to succeed Ban Ki-Moon.

“I’m in DC tomorrow if by any chance you are there for a quick catch up,” Rudd apparently wrote to Podesta on 14 December 2015,

“Alternatively in NYC (New York City) Wednesday or Thursday,” it continued.

“I would appreciate a short chat before Christmas.

“Go well.”

The communication, if genuine, came just nine days prior to the former prime minister’s meeting with current prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to discuss support for his bid for the top job at the UN, which ultimately failed.

According to WikiLeaks, Rudd’s senior executive associate at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Sarah Marten, then emailed Podesta on 26 February 2016 to request a meeting.

“Mr Rudd will be in DC next week and was hoping to find some time to meet with you,” she reportedly wrote.

According to AAP, the WikiLeaks emails contain no reply to either outreach.

The WikiLeaks email dump is part of an ongoing campaign by the group headed by Australian Julian Assange of releasing hacked communications between senior Democratic party members, in an apparent attempt to disrupt the US presidential election.

Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State when WikiLeaks’ most famous releases occured. It is said that the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has a personal vendetta against her and is at war with the now presidential candidate.

According to US authorities, the emails were obtained by Russian hackers with the implication that the Russian government is directly responsible for the hacks. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has sought to cast her presidential rival Donald Trump as a “puppet” of Russian president Vladimir Putin as a result of the Republican candidate being the apparent benificiary of the controversial leaks.

Following the leaks, the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where Assange has been holed up for several years avoiding extradition to Sweden, cut off his access to the Internet saying they did not condone his meddling in foreign elections.

The post WikiLeaks emails: Kevin Rudd sought meetings with top Clinton advisor appeared first on Australian Times News.

Beauty or beast? Arachnophobe viewer discretion is advised, that’s for sure!

‘Hermie the Huntsman’ as it’s so affectionately been named, has become a global celebrity after being caught on camera by Jason Womal from Queensland, strutting his eight-legged stuff with a gob-full of rodent.

“So I am just about to leave for work about 0030 and me neighbour says ‘You want to see something cool’ and I say ‘Hell yeah’,” Womal wrote on his Facebook page.

“So we proceed to his place and he shows me this. Huntsman trying to eat a mouse.”

The freakishly hungry Hermie has become an overnight sensation, featuring on news sites across the world.

That’s right folks, we told you the spiders were big Down Under.

*With Ezra Claymore

The post Huge huntsman spider drags mouse to its grisly doom [VIDEO] appeared first on Australian Times News.

The opposition Labor party has resolved to oppose in the Senate the legislation allowing for the plannned public vote on the matter, effectively killing the marriage equality plebiscite.

Labor say their decision is based on concerns forwarded by LGBTI groups that the public vote will give a platform to anti-gay and hate voices, potentially risking the mental health of young people who would be faced with having their sexulality demeaned or the legitimacy of their family units put under public scrutiny, in the case of having same-sex parents, in an acutely divisive manner.

Speaking to parliament on Wednesday, prime Minister Turnbull argued that the risk to the mental health of some people was small and that the plebiscite should not be blocked through the fear that some voices in the debate will be unkind.

“Are we going to say that we may not have a public debate on a topic when it is alleged that there will be a minority, some small groups, that will act intemperately?” he said during Question Time.

“Labor’s point is to say that because they believe a small number of people will participate in the debate in an intemperate and harsh way, perhaps in a discourteous and cruel way, then everybody else in Australia, the other 99 per cent of Australians, should not be able to have a say.

“That’s ridiculous. It is completely ridiculous.”

Opposition leader Bill Shorten moved to have a simple free vote in parliament to legalise marriage equality, rather than the plebiscite which he argued would demonise LGBTI Australians.

“I have been criticised by some, including members in this chamber, for drawing the link between this plebiscite and concerns about the mental health of LGBTIQ Australians,” he told parliament in response.

“I make no apologies for bringing attention to this most serious issue.”

Earlier this month, a study into Irelands succesful referendum to legalise same-sex marriage found that lesbian and gay people, and their families suffered serious emotional trauma as a result of the public debate over the vote.

Research earlier this year also found that the Yes vote had also resulted in many more young people feeling able to come out about their sexuality.

The post Same-sex marriage plebiscite block over mental health “ridiculous” says Turnbull appeared first on Australian Times News.

The outrageous comments by the now Republican presidential nominee, in which he says he can’t help kissing women and sometimes grabs their genitals without their consent, were recorded in 2005 but were dredged up on Friday, sending his campiagn into a tailspin.

The remarks by the potential leader of Australia’s most important strategic ally drew a chorus of damnation from the country’s politicians.

Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, described the comments as loathsome.

“They deserve the absolutely universal condemnation that they’ve received,” Mr Turnbull said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the comments could not be excused, or dismissed.

“They are vile, they are repugnant, they should be condemned,” he said.

Deputy PM and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce suggested the whole US presidential race had sunk to distateful lows.

“I just think this whole debate in the United States is turning into a really dirty, filthy concoction which belies the respect the American people deserve. They’re all digging up rubbish from each other’s past, and I think the whole thing is pretty unsavoury,” he told ABC radio.

Newly elected Labor MP Emma Husar called the Republican presidential nominee “pig”, a term he has been noted for using to describe some women.

“He’s an absolute repugnant animal who deserves to have every single Republican who is well-respected over there walk away from him,” Ms Husar said.

Meanwhile, One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson said that Mr Trump’s remarks were private, suggesting that Mr Trump should be given some slack, and that it wasn’t uncommon for men to talk like that

“Let’s be honest, there are a lot of men out there that say horrific things, probably up to the same standard,” Ms Hanson said on morning show Sunrise, appearing alongside fellow Senate freshman Derryn Hinch.

“No Pauline!” Hinch responded.

“A normal man in a private conversation would not talk about this. A normal man, Pauline, would never consider invading a woman’s space so much that, in his mind, or to his mates would say, I mean that is sexual assault.”

Mr Trump himself, both in a video apology issued over the weekend and in Sunday night’s (US time) debate with presidential rival Hillary Clinton, said he felt embarrassed about the comments but also described them as just “locker room talk”.

The post Aussie pollies line up to condemn Trump sexual assault remarks appeared first on Australian Times News.

The Aussie F1 fans were videoed on Sunday celebrating countryman Danial Ricciardo’s victory at the event by stripping down to just their swimming costumes and drinking beer from their shoes, emulating the somewhat odd habit of their hero when he’s earned a place on the dias.

The men’s cozzies were patterened as the Malaysian flag and bore the slogan “budgee smuglers”.

The local authorities in the socially conservative country were not amused and soon arrested the alleged louts.

Particularly embarrasing on the diplomatic front is the fact that one of the men behind bars works for Australia’s Minister of Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne.

Kuala Lumpur police hope to charge the group of men with ‘intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of the peace’, according to the ABC. If found guilty, the men would face a minimum penalty of a fine and a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term.

Police have said the men could appear in court to face the charges on Monday next week.

Malaysia’s Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed has accused the group of accused men of behaving with a political motive.

“We open our doors to tourists, we try to treat them as well as we can, sometimes even better than our own people, but when they come here with the intention to commit indecent acts to embarrass us I think that’s not how visitors should respond to our good treatment,” he said, according to the ABC.

The post Budgie smuggler bandits could face two years jail after Malaysia GP strip [WATCH] appeared first on Australian Times News.

17-year-old Cooper Allen was recuperating in hospital after having been mauled by a shark while surfing on Monday morning.

Allen was treated at the scene for a lacerations to one of his upper-thighs before being taken to hospital in Lismore, according to Richmond Police Inspector Nicole Bruce.

According to the ABC, the victim’s father Ned Allen said the teenager was “all good” and would be fine.

A NSW SharkSmart crew chased a 3.5 meter great white away from the area on Monday.

3.5m White shark spotted at Lighthouse Beach by NSWDPI aerial team pushed out to sea after attack on male surfer pic.twitter.com/r1NNYIGwMN

— SharkSmart (@NSWSharkSmart) September 26, 2016

The attack occured while Allen was surfing at Lighthouse Beach. It is the fourth serious incident in the area involving a shark in two years.

A new so-called ‘shark eco-barrier’ trial at the beach, part of a $16 million government response to a spate of shark attacks along the NSW coast in recent years, was halted just last month due to ongoing problems in rough conditions.

A second eco-barrlier trial at Seven Mile Beach was also abandoned this month after it became apparent that the new design wouldn’t work when a section of net became detatched.

The latest victim, Cooper Allen, was a friend Tadashi Nakahara who was killed by a shark in 2015 while surfing in Ballina.

Following the fatal attack on Nakahara and the announcement of the eco-barrier trials, Cooper told News Corp earlier this year that surfers always risked being attacked by a shark and that in his opinion the barriers were a waste of money.

NSW Premier Mike Baird has insisted that the new shark net technology could still work though.

“We have committed on a range of strategies in relation to sharks,” he said following the failure of the trials.

“Obviously when you’re trialling new technology, there is a risk on all of it that some will be very successful and some won’t.”

TOP IMAGE: Cooper Allen, via Facebook

The post Teenager attacked by shark said new nets are a waste of money appeared first on Australian Times News.

The survey conducted by Essential Research concluded that 49% of Aussies support the idea of putting a halt to the immigration of Islamic people down under.

Breaking down the numbers, the poll found that 60% of Coalition voters were in support of the notion, while 40% of Labor voters agreed. What may surprise some is that even 34% of Greens voters thought that Muslim migration to Australia should be stopped.

The main reasons given by respondents for wanting the ban were the fear of terrorism and the belief that Muslims do not properly integrate into Australian society.

The survey also found a majority of voters (65%) thought that newly elected Senator Pauline Hanson, who gave a provocative speech to parliament last week calling for such a ban, talked about issues other politicians were scared to discuss. It also revealed that 48% of Australians agreed a national debate about Islamic migration was necessary.

The survey’s release came on the same day that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Australia would be increasing its annual intake of refugees.

Speaking at US President Barack Obama’s special summit on refugees, on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Turnbull said Australia would increase its intake to 19,000 by 2018 and maintained at that level.

This is in addition to the 12,000 refugess Australia has specially committed to accepting from war-torn Syria and Iraq.

“Securing our borders has increased public confidence and enabled Australia to have one of the world’s most generous humanitarian systems,” the prime minister told the special summit.

“Australia’s program of permanent refugee resettlement is the third largest in the world,” he said.

Despite proclamations from the likes of Pauline Hanson that Australia was being “swamped by Muslims” as she put it in her speech last week, according to the most recent completed census data (from 2011) and a 2015 report from the University of South Australia, there were 476,290 muslims living in Australia, comprising just 2.2% of the population.

The post Half of Australia agree with Pauline and want Islamic migration banned appeared first on Australian Times News.

The British Colonial Co restaurant opened in Brisbane in July, offering diners a “safari style setting” dining experience, promising “adventure and modern refinement”.

Tip top and jolly good, right? Hmm, maybe. The ‘colonial’ tag still made me a little bit suss.

Well, the following description on the retaurant’s website kinda confirms the suspicion:

“Inspired by the stylish days of the empirical push into the developing cultures of the world.”

This is where this old boy choked on his gin and tonic.

So, imperial ‘pushes’ were stylish, huh? And the cultures the Empire lorded it over were only “developing” anyway and certainly not as highly evolved as the British culture that was so generously brought to them (note to marketing agency – a ‘developing’ country refers to its economy, not its culture).

Those savages were jolly lucky to have a bit of Britannia foist upon them, hey what! And all with such panache.

So, what’s on the menu, anyway?

According to the Brisbane Times, I’m not the only one to have felt a ruffle in my post-colonial feathers:

“Racism has become so normalised that people have no idea just how insensitive their actions and words are,” wrote one annoyed Facebooker on the restaurant’s page.

“It’s a theme – not a very good one. But it’s nothing but a poorly thought out hipster theme, a hallmark of gentrification,” posted another.

For their part, the restaurant are sorry, so sorry. Ah, but sort of not really.

“We believe that our décor and menu has great synergy with Brisbane’s climate and the expansive palette of our clientele, who are looking for a melting pot of food and beverages to enjoy in a relaxed atmosphere,” the restaurant said in a statement, according to Fairfax.

“We are therefore upset and saddened by today’s media reports that our brand is causing offence and distress to some members of the community. This certainly was not our intention.”

Hmm, yes well guess what; your average British colonial ruler’s intention was wholly just in their own eyes, so at least you keeping with the theme there, but their ‘adventurous’ subjegation is still a sore point for much of the former Empire’s indigenous peoples for a start. And applying it today as a theme in the name of enjoyment and wealth creation nakedly exposes a certain colonial age ignorance and, worst of all old chap, a lack of class.

TOP IMAGE: Something from those stylish, good old colonial days, hey what.

The post Aussie ‘British Colonial Co’ lacks a certain class appeared first on Australian Times News.

That’s right, while Malcolm and the rest of the parliamentary mob are getting used to making a slim lower house majority work and a Senate even fruitier than the last one, at least three of them have seen fit to use the nation’s most respected (ahem) soap box to verbally wrestle over where the iconic Aussie… um, food thing, comes from.

Did the humble, tastless, edible log originate in Bathurst, Bendigo or Wagga? This is an important question; these are dangerous times, voters!

“We aim to please in the central west, and if it is Tic Tacs or Nutella that you enjoy, and I have to confess I am partial to both, they were definitely made in Lithgow. Or if Australia’s iconic Chiko Roll is more to your liking … well they were made in Bathurst.” Nationals MP for Calare solemnly declared to parliament.

In response, fellow Nationals MP and Minister for Small Business Michael McCormack took to the ABC to defend the honour of his seat of Riverina with what seemed to be irrefutable evidence… the gold standard of Chiko Rolls.

“We have in our Riverina Museum in Wagga Wagga the Gold Chiko Roll given to us by the manufacturers, acknowledging the fact that Wagga Wagga is home of the Chiko Roll,” he said.

But that prompted Victorian Labor MP Lisa Chesters to call both men out with this apparent slam dunk for her seat of Bendigo:

“It’s just outrageous that these NSW MPs can try and claim credit for the Chiko Roll. It was invented in Bendigo by a Bendigonian,” she insisted.

Take that, you delusional, right-wing Chiko packaging deniers!

The nation remains divided.

Now, what is Pauline Hanson so freaked out about again?

The post Birth of Chiko Roll controversy rocks Aussie parliament appeared first on Australian Times News.

To celebrate 30 years since its release, the remaining members of the band – Rob McComb, Alsy MacDonald, Martyn Casey, Jill Birt and Graham Lee and some guests –  will perform the album Born Sandy Devotional in its’ entirety in memorial to founding member David McComb.

The Triffids were hailed by the music media as one of the most influential and important bands to come from Australia and their 1986 album Born Sandy Devotional, which includes one of the band’s best known songs ‘Wide Open Road’, has become a modern classic.

Led by singer and songwriter David McComb, The Triffids formed in Perth in 1978 and soon relocated to London, achieving popularity throughout Europe and becoming the first Australian group since the Seekers to feature on the cover of New Musical Express (NME).

In 2008 the band was inducted into the Australian Rock And Roll Hall of Fame by Nick Cave.

In October 2010 Born Sandy Devotional was listed at No. 5 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.

Graham Lee, guitarist for The Triffids, said of the upcoming show;

“The Triffids was a close knit band for many years none more so than 1985 when we recorded Born Sandy Devotional at Mark Angelo Studios in Britton St, Farringdon (there’s a plaque erected by fans to commemorate the fact). The record was released in 1986 and has since become a classic regularly scoring a spot on lists of the best all-time Australian albums.

“David McComb, who was the driving force behind this collection of superb songs tied together by the theme of unrequited love (mostly his), died in 1999 literally of a broken heart. We, the remaining members of the band, get together infrequently with the sole purpose of remembering our friend and brother by performing his songs.

“We are very excited to be performing the entire Born Sandy Devotional album on this trip to London. We will have special guests in tow who similarly miss Dave and feel a debt to him. Confirmed so far are Rob Snarski from the Blackeyed Susans who was Dave’s close friend and favourite vocalist and JP Shilo from the legendary Hungry Ghosts and Blackeyed Susans. More will be announced closer to the time.

“These shows are always emotional blockbusters for us and the audience as Dave’s presence is almost palpable. The mood though is one of celebration rather than regret. We hope you can join us for a very special show.”

The London show featuring Born Sandy Devotional in its entirety as well as other Triffids hits, will be the band’s only UK performance.

For tickets for The Triffids at Islington Town Hall in London on October 21^st,  click here

The post The Triffids to play ‘Born Sandy Devotional’ in its entirety, in London appeared first on Australian Times News.

Stuart Knox, 44-years-old, is in New York for the annniversary this Sunday. His brother Andrew was in the north tower when it was struck by the first of two planes to hit the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The attack that ultimately killed 2,996 people, including Andrew.

In 2013 Stuart set up a Facebook memorial page for his twin brother who’s life had been cut so tragically short before the ubiquitous social media site even exisited.

“So many days I’ve needed to hear your voice,” Stuart wrote in his first post to the page 3-years ago.

“My heart still aches 12 years later, the twin bond we have is different now, I don’t feel it in the same way, just in my head.

“Part of me died that day too, you know that because part of me is with you now. These days don’t get easier, I truly thought they would. I’m glad they don’t.”

For the 2016 anniversary of 9/11, Stuart is in New York City. Stuart told 9News that he is glad the event isn’t talked about as much back home in Australia as it is in the US.

“I guess that Bali for Australians was a lot more a wake-up call to what can happen in the world,” he said.

For Stuart though, it’s all about what happened to his brother on that fateful day at what became known as Ground Zero.

Leading up to Sunday’s anniversary, he spent time at the repository of the victims’ remains near the site, 9News reported.

“The repository is somewhere where I feel the absolute closest to Andrew. So I spent time doing some writing just to Andrew today,” he said.

There are said to be 10 Australian families who lost a sibling, parent or grandparent in the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

The post Aussie still mourns his twin who died in the 9/11 terror attacks appeared first on Australian Times News.