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/ 27 May 2008

Australian troops ‘scorned’ for low-risk missions

Australian soldiers are ashamed of their low-risk missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are scorned by troops of other nations, two officers charged in comments published on Tuesday. ”The restrictions and policies enforced on infantrymen in Iraq have resulted in the widespread perception that our army is plagued by institutional cowardice,” Major Jim Hammett said.

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/ 20 February 2008

Aussie leader is battling the bulge

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revealed on Wednesday that he is battling the bulge, while his deputy, Julia Gillard, was stunned to be voted one of the country’s sexiest women. Rudd said it is difficult to maintain a fitness regime while coping with the responsibilities of office.

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/ 12 February 2008

Tears, dances as Aborigines make history

Aborigines playing didgeridoos and smeared with white body paint overturned hundreds of years of British tradition in Australia on Tuesday by taking part in the official opening of the nation’s new parliamentary session. The ceremony came a day before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivers an historic apology to Aborigines for past policies.

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/ 6 February 2008

Aussie rugby shocked at funding withdrawal

The cash-strapped Australian Rugby Union said on Wednesday it was shocked at a government decision to scrap funding for a national rugby academy in Queensland state. Former prime minister John Howard committed Aus-million to the project last June but the new Labour government of Kevin Rudd said it was now being axed under a cost-cutting programme.

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/ 2 January 2008

Australia’s plans to filter internet under fire

An Australian government plan to filter the internet on Wednesday drew criticism from privacy advocates who said it represented the start of state censorship. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a member of the Labour team that ousted former prime minister John Howard in November, wants filters in place to shield children from online porn and violence.

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/ 29 December 2007

‘Aussie Taliban’ released from jail

Former Guantánamo Bay inmate David Hicks walked free from an Australian jail after completing a sentence for supporting terrorism on Saturday, vowing not to let down those who got him home. More than six years after he was captured in Afghanistan, the so-called "Aussie Taliban" was escorted from Adelaide’s maximum security Yalata jail.

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/ 7 December 2007

Muralitharan, a hero for us all

This week Muttiah Muralitharan became the highest Test wicket-taker in cricket’s long history. It’s an extraordinary, heart-warming achievement that will be celebrated at length and in style in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the cricket world. But there will be quarters, particularly in Australia, where it will be begrudged and depicted as tainted.

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/ 3 December 2007

Bali talks seek new climate pact

About 190 nations met in Bali on Monday seeking a breakthrough to a new global pact to fight climate change by 2009 to avert droughts, heatwaves and rising seas that will hit the poor hardest. A new treaty is meant to widen the Kyoto Protocol, which binds 36 industrial countries to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012.

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/ 29 November 2007

Australia’s Rudd names Cabinet, signals change

Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd unveiled his Cabinet on Thursday, prioritising education, industrial relations and the environment in a break with conservative predecessor John Howard’s legacy. Calling it "a team with fresh ideas", Rudd included four women and a former rock star in the Cabinet.

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/ 28 November 2007

New Aussie PM arrives in Canberra

Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd arrived in the nation’s capital on Wednesday to choose his new Cabinet, aides said, as outgoing John Howard and his vanquished team cleared out their desks. Rudd (50) stormed to power in a landslide election victory on Saturday that wiped out Howard’s conservative government after almost 12 years in office.

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/ 24 November 2007

Australia’s Labour claims election victory

Australia’s Labour party claimed victory in national elections on Saturday, signalling an end to 11 years of conservative government led by Prime Minister John Howard. "On the numbers we are seeing tonight, Labour is going to form a government," Labour’s deputy leader, Julia Gillard, told Australian television.

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/ 24 November 2007

Embattled Australian leader casts his vote

Australian Prime Minister John Howard cast his ballot in national elections on Saturday, hoping voters would reject a younger opposition leader offering generational change and return him for a fifth straight term. ”I hope we will win. I believe we will win. It is in the hands of my fellow Australians,” Howard told reporters.

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/ 23 October 2007

Australian PM takes walks on the wild side

A looming election has turned Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s traditional morning stroll into a walk on the wild side. Television satirists have popped up in his path dressed as rabbits and worms — both well-known political creatures here — while ordinary passers-by have taken to hurling insults at him.

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/ 21 October 2007

African attacks raise spectre of racism in Australia

Sudanese refugee Ajang Deng was riding his bike home when a group of white men attacked him with a beer bottle in the latest in a spate of racist attacks that could play a role in Australia’s looming election. The attacks followed a controversial statement by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews, who last month blamed African refugees for gang violence.

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/ 8 September 2007

Apec nations to accept climate change goals

Asia-Pacific nations, including China and the United States, will accept for the first time global goals to reduce emissions, according to a draft statement prepared for an Apec summit on Saturday. The declaration reaffirmed the United Nations climate convention as the primary vehicle for fighting global warming.

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/ 7 September 2007

Bush speaks at Opec … er, Apec

United States President George Bush, who reportedly once told aides he dislikes the "small talk in big rooms" of summitry, seemed not entirely sure on Friday which world leader gathering was going. Opening the keynote speech of his visit to Sydney, Bush thanked Australian Prime Minister John Howard "for being such a fine host for the Opec summit’.

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/ 5 September 2007

Bush, Howard cement alliance at Apec meeting

United States President George Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard cemented a strong alliance on Wednesday as Asia-Pacific ministers began talks ranging from human security and climate change to trade and economic reform. Howard promised Australian soldiers would stay alongside US troops in Iraq following a meeting between the close friends.

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/ 3 September 2007

Climate, trade top Bush’s agenda at Apec summit

United States President George Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week’s Asia-Pacific summit but the Iraq debate at home looms as a distraction. Bush will meet in Sydney with the leaders of Australia, China, Japan, Russia and other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.

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/ 3 September 2007

Howard in YouTube call for calm at Apec summit

Australian Prime Minister John Howard used YouTube on Monday to sell an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in Sydney this week, ahead of expected protests against global warming and the Iraq war. Organisers anticipate violent demonstrations at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit, which will be attended by 21 leaders including United States President George Bush.

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/ 29 August 2007

Cut ties with Australia, say Zim state media

Zimbabwe’s state media on Wednesday called on the government to sever ties with Australia, accusing Prime Minister John Howard’s government of seeking to topple veteran President Robert Mugabe. ”There is no need to continue keeping up appearances when diplomatic ties between the two countries have irrevocably broken down,” the state-run Herald said.