Global News Post: Oceania

Australia Should Focus on India: Former Australia PM Howard

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<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">MELBOURNE</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-PTI) -- <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Australia</st1:country>
should not be mesmerised by <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country>'s
growth and focus on <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country>,
"a sleeping giant", former Prime Minister John Howard has said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Howard
said with the European Union crumbling down, it was affecting <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country> and a focus on <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country> would affect the Australian
economy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According
to 'Brisbane Times' report on Thursday, Howard said that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Australia</st1:country> should not be mesmerised by <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country>'s growth and insisted that demographics
pointed to "<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country>
as a sleeping giant". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country> is
growing very rapidly, but it does have two elephants in the room. The first
elephant in the room that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country>
has is demography; <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
will grow old before she grows rich." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Howard,
who was <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Australia</st1:country>'s prime
minister from 1996-2007, said <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country>'s
population was younger and the stark contrast with <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country> was "astonishing". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country>'s population between the ages of 15 and 24
is the largest of that age cohort of any nation in the world," he said, adding
that age bracket included 230 million people, almost the population of <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"It
gives you an indication of the contrast between <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country>
and <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
as far as the age and therefore the potential vitality of the population,"
he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Howard
said <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>
was the second largest economy in the world by virtue of its size, not by its
capital wealth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He
said <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>'s
ageing population would come at a cost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"It
will have to invest more and more in looking after her ageing population,"
he said, insisting that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Australia</st1:country>
should focus on <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He
said <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country>'s economy was in "better
shape", education levels were better and while its layers of bureaucracy
were at times "bewildering", the country remained an extremely valuable
trade partner for <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The
point I leave you with however is that if <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country> can get her act together, because
of the relative youthfulness of the population, it can make a big difference,"
he further added. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">China</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">'s second "elephant in the room" was
the difference was the communist nation's attitude to "political
liberation", he added. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"My
simple view is – and some people call it simple, but I think it is
fundamentally correct – my theory is that the generation newly enriched by <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country>'s
extraordinary economic growth, will accept being told what to do politically,"
he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"But
the children of that generation will not. The children of that generation will
take economic empowerment for granted and they will want a say in their own
future," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He
said he was optimistic about economic recovery in the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country>, but
less favourable about the euro-economy nations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"I
am not very optimistic about <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. I thought
that the Euro was a colossal mistake. It was sold to a group of European
politicians, by what I call the European or <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brussels</st1:place></st1:city> elite, who are obsessed with
implementing the ideal of some kind of supra-European state," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Howard
said his doubts were founded on the fact that the region did not have a
unifying fiscal system. Howard said without a central taxation system, he had
doubts it would last into the future. -- NNN-PTI<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Australia Should Focus on India: Former Australia PM Howard

MELBOURNE (NNN-PTI) -- Australia should not be mesmerised by China 's growth and focus on India , "a sleeping giant",...

Minister: Australia Should Engage More with India in Education Sector

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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span>  </span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MELBOURNE (NNN-Bernama) -- Asian countries like India are hungry for skilled workers and Australia needs to engage more actively in providing vocational and educational training services in these nations, a minister said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Speaking at the Australia India Skills Conference in Perth recently, Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said Australia needed to do more to impart know-how and training to Asian nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evans said vocational education had been "very much on the agenda" at last week's East Asia Summit in Indonesia, Press Trust of India reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span>"[There was] very much a focus for developing partnerships that went to things like qualification recognition, a focus on standards, quality assurance and labour mobility," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evans also admitted the federal government had been slow to see the opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span>"But it is the case that VET (Vocational and educational training services) is going to be a key area of engagement between Australia and various Asian countries, particularly India."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evans also pinpointed that India required to upskill 500 million people which presented a huge challenge.  --NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Minister: Australia Should Engage More with India in Education Sector

MELBOURNE (NNN-Bernama) -- Asian countries like India are hungry for skilled workers and Australia needs to engage more actively in prov...

Student Visa Applications Down After Attacks on Indians in Australia

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) - Visa request from Indian students registered a sharp decline following attack incidents in Australia, Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen said here Wednesday. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Other factors such as the high Australian dollar had also contributed to the decline in request for student visas from India, he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">However, Bowen said the number of requests has seen "an upward trend" recently, Press Trust of India reported. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"Analysis shows that nowadays Indian students are less likely to be attacked in Australia." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The minister said his country has taken steps to encourage students from around the world including India to study there, with changes made in student visa programmes after a review. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In 2010, a number of attacks on Indians in parts of Australia had provoked strong protest from the Indian government. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Student Visa Applications Down After Attacks on Indians in Australia

NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) - Visa request from Indian students registered a sharp decline following attack incidents in Australia, A...

Australia Claims Carbon Storage Breakthrough

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 8.0pt;">By Phil Mercer from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:city></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Scientists in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> working on a project to store carbon say they can prove their technology works and is safe.  Still, critics say the trial was too small to be decisive.  <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">The scientists working on the carbon sponge project west of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Melbourne</st1:place></st1:city> say that after three and a half years of study, they can now prove that this type of carbon sequestration can work safely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">In March 2008, they began injecting carbon dioxide deep underground near the coastal town Warrnambool in the southern state, <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Victoria</st1:place></st1:state>.  They have been pumping 65,000 tons of CO2-rich gas into a depleted natural gas reservoir, some two kilometers underground.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">The team from Australia’s government-funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization say there were no signs that carbon dioxide had leaked from its the sealed underground chamber.  <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Research scientist Charles Jenkins says the process could have a dramatic effect on reducing global greenhouse gas pollution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">“There's a lot of these depleted gas fields that are ideally placed for that. The estimates are that after 2050 you could probably get rid of about two-thirds of the carbon dioxide that's being produced by these big sources," he stated. "So globally it's a very, very significant resource for us.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Yet despite this optimism, critics have yet to be convinced.  They believe the process of storing carbon dioxide underground on any large scale is still too expensive and unreliable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Arthur Williamson, a professor of chemical engineering at the <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Canterbury</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region>, says the Australian survey is not conclusive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">“They have managed to make it work for a short time, on a small scale, in a particular gas field,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">However, proponents of this type of sequestration insist that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> will not be able to effectively reduce its carbon emissions without the technology.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">The process of storing carbon dioxide from power generation and other industrial processes underground was recognized at this month’s climate conference in the South African city, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Durban</st1:place></st1:city>, as a clean development technology.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Australian scientists believe that the capture and storage of CO2 from commercial power stations could be viable by 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Australia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"> is one of the world’s worst per capita producers of gases that many researchers blame for warming temperatures.  Farmers and conservative politicians believe that man’s use of fossil fuels is having a negligible effect on the Earth’s climate. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

Australia Claims Carbon Storage Breakthrough

By Phil Mercer from Sydney Scientists in Australia working on a project to store carbon say they can prove their technology works and is ...

Australia to Lift Ban on Uranium Sale to India

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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">MELBOURNE</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (NNN-Bernama) -- <st1:city w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:city> will be able to buy uranium from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> after the Australian Labor Party (ALP) lifted a long-standing ban on the export to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The ALP's national conference in <st1:city w:st="on">Sydney</st1:city> on Sunday backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plan to remove the party platform's ban on uranium exports to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, in a 206 to 185 final vote. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Gillard said the move would boost trade and enhance <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s relationship with the world's largest democracy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"We are at the right time in the history of the world to seize a new era of opportunity in this, the Asian century," Gillard is reported by the Australian Associated Press as telling the conference. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">She said the sale would be based on a new safeguards agreement and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s commitment to global nuclear agreements other than the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which it has not signed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Facing opposition from a number of cabinet ministers and jeers from the public gallery, Gillard said it was not rational for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> to sell uranium to <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> but not to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"There's always emotion and passion at Labor Party conferences, I think that's a good thing," she said. "It's a sign of a vibrant political party." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Seconding the motion, South Australian premier Jay Weatherill said <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> was one of his state's major trading partners, and the export of uranium was crucial to its economy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told the conference <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> couldn't lecture the world about the importance of climate change action while denying them sources of clean energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"Ten thousand tonnes of Australian uranium exports replaces 400 million tonnes of Co2 from conventional coal fired power plants," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Fellow frontbencher Peter Garrett spoke out against the motion, saying it weakened the party's commitment to nuclear disarmament. - NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Australia to Lift Ban on Uranium Sale to India

MELBOURNE (NNN-Bernama) -- New Delhi will be able to buy uranium from Australia after the Australian Labor Party (ALP) lifted a long-st...

Airline Dispute Grounds Australia’s Qantas, Government Intervenes

Airline Dispute Grounds Australia’s Qantas, Government Intervenes

Australia 's government says it will not wait for a bitter dispute that has grounded the country's Qantas Airways to resolve itse...

Human Rights Commissioner Can Help Alert Abuse in Commonwealth Countries – Abdullah

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">From Nor Faridah Abd Rashid <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">PERTH</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-Bernama) -- The proposal for a human rights commisisoner, if adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), could alert the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) on situations of human rights abuse, Eminent Persons Group (EPG) chairman Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He said the commissioner could actually assist the CMAG and the Commonwealth secretary-general in making them more aware of cases of human rights abuse in the Commonwealth countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“However, only the CMAG has the power to act (on the issues) and not the Commissioner,” he told Malaysian journalists here. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Earlier, Abdullah and other EPG members held a media briefing relating to the proposal, which formed the core part of a report containing 106 recommendations presented before heads of government at the three-day meeting which ends on Oct 30. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He said Friday night, only the two core issues, namely the setting up of the Commissioner for Human Rights and the Commonwealth Charter were discussed by the leaders. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The leaders are expected to have further discussions on the report during their retreat sessions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Media reports have highlighted much of the commisisoner proposal, stating that a number of countries, including <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sri Lanka</st1:place></st1:country-region> and some African nations, had played down the commissioner idea, saying that it duplicated the role of United Nations officers and CMAG, and would cost too much. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">However, at the media briefing, the EPG emphasised that the commissioner would only have a small staff and stressed on the need to have the commissioner who would monitor the human rights situation in Commonwealth countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Abdullah is hopeful that the leaders would accept the report, which has been compiled into a book, 'A Commonwealth of the People – Time for Urgent Reform'. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He described the book as the “Voice of the Commonwealth.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“It is an important document as the voice of the Commonwealth is reflected in the book,” he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The recommendations in the report came from 330 submissions and emphasised that the Commonwealth was in danger of becoming irrelevant and unconvincing as a values-based organisation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The report also touched on prejudice in getting treatment for HIV. It ontained a recommendation to do away with laws which prevented people from getting treatment for HIV. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The EPG said, during the briefing today, that many HIV cases could be found in Commonwealth countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Abdullah said the report was not binding on the countries concerned, but would only provide the various recommendations for the Commonwealth to look into and turn into some kind of programmes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“They have to decide, we don’t make any decision,” he added. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Human Rights Commissioner Can Help Alert Abuse in Commonwealth Countries – Abdullah

From Nor Faridah Abd Rashid PERTH (NNN-Bernama) -- The proposal for a human rights commisisoner, if adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of ...

Australian Court Extends Ban on Transfer of Asylum Seekers

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">By Phil Mercer from Sydney</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Discover-Australia-Country/dp/1741799910?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Lonely Planet Discover Australia (Full Color Country Travel Guide)" height="320" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1741799910&tag=glob036-20" width="208" /></a><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1741799910" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Australia's High Court Monday extended a temporary ban on the controversial transfer of asylum seekers to Malaysia.<span>  </span>The first group of detainees facing expulsion under the new agreement has been given a reprieve, at least until a full court hearing later this month.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The 16 Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers had been due to fly to Kuala Lumpur early Monday under a new deal in which Australia would send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 processed refugees.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Australia insists the agreement will stop potential refugees from travelling by boat into its remote northern waters.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, lawyers for the asylum seekers have asked the Australian High Court to rule the swap deal invalid.<span>  </span>In a hearing Sunday in the nation's capital, Canberra, the lawyers obtained a temporary injunction preventing any deportations.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">David Manne, an attorney who runs the Refugee and Immigration Legal Center in Melbourne, launched the High Court proceedings.<span>  </span>He says the boatpeople are entitled to have their claims assessed in Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“What the court has said is that the Australian government at the moment is prohibited from expelling our clients to Malaysia pending the outcome of this case and this case is about our clients arguing that their claims for refugee protection should be considered in Australia instead of being expelled to Malaysia.” said Manne. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Australian government argued that Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has the power to make decisions regarding where asylum applications are processed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Australia-2011-Complete-Guides/dp/0470640138?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Frommer's Australia 2011 (Frommer's Complete Guides)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0470640138&tag=glob036-20" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Australia-Hugh-Jackman/dp/B001PPGAIA?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Australia" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B001PPGAIA&tag=glob036-20" /></a><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001PPGAIA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Bowen said he was expecting the so-called "Malaysia Solution" to face legal<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0470640138" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> challenges, but insisted the government was determined to implement the plan to stem the flow of boatpeople making the perilous sea crossing to Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rights groups have criticized the deal, accusing Australia of not meeting its legal obligations to refugees and risking the health and safety of vulnerable people, including children.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Immigration and border protection are sensitive political issues in Australia.<span>  </span>The conservative opposition said the High Court’s decision to temporarily stop deportations to Malaysia was proof that the government’s asylum policies are in chaos.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A full High Court hearing is expected later this month.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Australia grants about 13,000 refugee visas each year under various international treaties.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div></div>

Australian Court Extends Ban on Transfer of Asylum Seekers

By Phil Mercer from Sydney Australia's High Court Monday extended a temporary ban on the controversial transfer of asylum seekers ...