Hugh Jackman on Australia, marriage and religion – Times Online
Hugh Jackman has just been punched, squarely, in the nuts. His body crumples inwards, hands instinctively headed southwards to cup his groin from further attack, and his eyes, which for a brief moment cross in pain, begin to water. As he struggles to catch his breath, his face contorted in a grimace, he raises an [...]
Uproar in Australia over plan to block Web sites
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — A proposed Internet filter dubbed the “Great Aussie Firewall” is promising to make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries. Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web sites [...]
Wild Oats XI wins record fourth Sydney-Hobart yachting race
HOBART, Australia (AFP) — Australian maxi yacht Wild Oats XI won the 64th Sydney to Hobart race for a record fourth time Sunday, just narrowly missing out on breaking its own race record time. The 30-metre maxi finished the 628-nautical mile race down the Australian eastern seaboard in one day 20 hours 34 minutes and [...]
Japan whalers out of Australia-claimed area
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has said it achieved its aim of forcing Japan’s whaling fleet out of Antarctic waters claimed by Australia. In a statement on its website (www.seashepherd.org), the U.S.-based group said its ship, the Steve Irwin, had forced the fleet into waters off the Ross Dependency, which is [...]
3-D bowlers put Australia back in the picture
As Chris Read might solemnly swear, cricket is a game of three dimensions. But batting, bowling and fielding do not exist in isolation: rather they seep into each other on an individual and collective level. There is a school of thought, for example, that the highest run-scorers in Australia’s history are Glenn McGrath and Shane [...]
Historic port on the Darling River : Wilcannia
The image of Wilcannia that most travellers along the Barrier Highway have is of a town with a lot of Aborigines standing around in the main street. It is a very racist preconception but one which nearly everyone who has travelled through the town enunciates. Of course the image of the town is unfair and [...]
Australia’s best home-grown holidays
Now is a great time for a ‘staycation’. Lee Atkinson has some home-grown alternatives to going overseas. Travel trends come and travel trends go but the swan-diving Aussie dollar, economic uncertainty and restless political climate means the latest travel craze, the “staycation”, is the best-value holiday around. A “staycation” is all about spending your hard-earned [...]
N.Z House Prices Fall 6.8%, Matching Previous Decline
New Zealand house prices fell 6.8 percent in November from a year earlier as an economic recession and a deepening global financial crisis deterred buyers. The drop in average prices matched October’s decline, which was the biggest since the series began in 2005, Quotable Value New Zealand Ltd., the Wellington-based government valuation agency, said in [...]
Australian Newspaper Job Ads Plunge Most in 30 Years, ANZ Says
Australian job-vacancy advertisements slumped in November for a seventh month, led by a record drop in newspaper notices, as employers pared hiring plans amid concern the economy may enter a recession. Jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet plunged 8.6 percent last month to an average of 211,199 a week, after falling 5.9 percent [...]
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