Tag Archive for 'Australia'

Over 40% of New Zealanders Open To Australia Merge

Published on March 13, 2010 in New Zealand. 0 Comments Tags: , .

This number of Kiwis open to merging with Australia I found surprising:

MORE than 40 per cent of New Zealanders think it’s time the South Pacific nation considered becoming Australia’s seventh state, according to a survey of more than 1000 people. The research, conducted by UMR, asked residents on both sides of the Tasman for their views on a possible union of the countries, 110 years after New Zealand chose not to join the Australian Commonwealth, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Of the New Zealanders asked, 41 per cent said the prospect of New Zealand becoming Australia’s seventh state was “an idea worth debating”.

On the other hand, 58 per cent did not believe the discussion was worth having. One per cent were unsure.

The survey, which has a margin of error of three per cent, found New Zealanders believed a union would bring big improvements in the ease of travel to Australia and to the defence status of the nation of four million people.  [NewsCore]

For those that have never been around Aussies and Kiwis, there relationship is very much a USA and Canada relationship.  Australians tend to overlook New Zealand while the Kiwis tend to try and emphasize their differences and what they do better than Australia.  However, I cannot ever imagine over 40% of Canadians wanting to merge with the US?

Melbourne Storms: Past & Present

Published on March 6, 2010 in Victoria. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Here are pictures of a massive storm that hit one of my favorite cities in the world Melbourne, Australia:

There seems to be wild weather all around the world this year, but as Andrew Bolt points out this type of weather is nothing new in Melbourne with this picture from 1972:

I saw some wild weather myself when my wife and I were living in the Melbourne area, but definitely nothing like these two storms.

Picture of the Day: The Australian Coat of Arms

Published on March 4, 2010 in ACT. 0 Comments Tags: .

The Australians like to say they are the only country that eats the symbols on their coat of arms.  You can read more about what the coat of arms means here.

Picture of the Day: The Australian-American Memorial

Published on March 2, 2010 in ACT. 0 Comments Tags: , .

You can read more about this memorial located in Canberra, Australia here.

Cairns Man Catches 30kg Barramundi With His Bare Hands

Published on March 2, 2010 in Queensland. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here is a heck of a fish tale for everyone:

THE fishing has improved in the inland community of Mutchilba – this resident grabbed a 30kg barra from a drain with his bare hands.

The Cairns Post reports baker Tony Bambino was driving home on Saturday when he spotted a 30kg barramundi swimming in the Sunwater irrigation channel.

“It was about 4pm in the arvo and I saw something shiny in the water,” he said.

“Once I realised what it was, I grabbed it by the mouth with my hands.

“It took about 10-15 minutes to catch it and the hardest part was pulling it out of the channel and into the back of my ute.”

Mr Bambino said the “massive” barra must have swum into the area before the fish trap was built at Walkamin.  [Cairns Post]

When I lived in Australia I really liked eating barramundi, which is a fish that Australians just have a passion fishing for.

It’s Raining Fish In Australia’s Northern Territory

Published on February 28, 2010 in Northern Territory. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Something fishy going on here in this Northern Territory town:

WHILE the Top End and Central Australia have been battered by torrential rains, a Territory town has had fish falling from the sky.

The freak phenomena happened not once, but twice, on Thursday and Friday afternoon about 6pm at Lajamanu, about 550km southwest of Katherine.

NEWSBREAKER Christine Balmer, who took these photos of the fish on the ground and in a bucket, had to pinch herself when she was told “hundreds and hundreds” of small white fish had fallen from the sky.

“It rained fish in Lajamanu on Thursday and Friday night,” she said, “They fell from the sky everywhere.

“Locals were picking them up off the footy oval and on the ground everywhere.

“These fish were alive when they hit the ground.”

Mrs Balmer, the aged care co-ordinator at the Lajamanu Aged Care Centre, said her family interstate thought she had lost the plot when she told them about the event.

“I haven’t lost my marbles,” she said, reassuring herself. “Thank god it didn’t rain crocodiles.”  [NT News]

Read the rest at the link, but goofy and weird stuff like this always seems to happen in the Northern Territory.  Apparently locals are speculating that a tornado may have blown the fish from lakes hundreds of kilometers away from the town.  I wonder if someone flying overhead with an airplane wasn’t just playing a massive prank on the town?

Australians Ignore Warnings As Tsunami Nears

Published on February 27, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Apparently Australians are not taking the recent tsunami warnings to seriously:

BEACHGOERS have ignored official warnings of a tsunami hitting Australia’s east coast after a devastating underwater earthquake struck Chile.

The 8.8 magnitude quake struck near Chile’s central coast at about 5.43pm (AEDT), toppling buildings and killing at least 147 people.

The ocean quake has triggered tsunami warnings as far off as Australia, with the possibility of dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding hitting coastal areas.

In French Polynesia, huge waves have struck the Gambier archipelago, the high commissioner’s office in Papeete said, as the tsunami races across the Pacific.

The Marquesas islands, northeast of Polynesia, were hit by a series of two-metre waves that damaged some boats but no one was hurt, officials said.

A four-metre wave hit Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, officials said.

Back in Australia, swimmers and surfers at Bondi Beach have treated this morning like any other even though effects of the tsunami are due to hit the NSW coast from 8.45am (AEDT) today.

Live cameras at Bondi show lifesavers have since ushered people out of the water.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has issued official warnings for people to stay away from the state’s coastal areas.

“Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore,” the SES warning states.  [News.com.au]

Rescue of Cliff Climbing Drunk Man Costs Taypayers $10,000

Published on February 26, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Here is another example of wasted taxpayer money:

A NIGHT of drunken skylarking has left a Ukrainian tourist with a hangover he will always remember – and taxpayers with a huge bill.

After a night on the drink, the 19-year-old man scaled down a cliff at Sydney’s northern beaches suburb of Manly but got stuck half way and passed out, The Daily Telegraph reports.

After being alerted by a fisherman, rescue workers found him asleep on his back on a ledge 30m above sea level at North Head early yesterday morning.

The rescue operation will cost taxpayers at least $10,000.

But the man will only be charged the cost of the road trip to hospital – likely to be as little as $700.  [The Daily Telegraph]

Drug Abusing Mom Gets Second Taxpayer Funded Liver Transplant

Published on February 25, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

This is jacked up especially when the tax payers have to foot the bill for such irresponsibility:

TAXPAYERS may have to foot the bill for a dying drug user’s flight to New Zealand for life-saving surgery.

Claire Murray, a 24-year-old mother-of-two, has been told by doctors that she only has months to live if she does not receive a liver transplant.

It would be her second transplant after years of drug abuse, including heroin and amphetamines, PerthNow reports.

She has admitted to taking drugs after her first liver transplant last year – but has pledged to make the most of her second chance at life after being told she could not be considered for a second transplant in WA.

Health Minister Kim Hames said there were seven other people in WA who were waiting for their first liver transplant.

He said it would be “patently unfair” for Ms Murray to jump the queue for a second liver.

But Dr Hames said the State Government was prepared to pay for her and her father to travel to New Zealand so she could be considered for a “live” liver transplant.  [PerthNow]

I don’t understand why the state is allowing her to jump in line ahead of other people waiting for a transplant?  The state at least should make her or her parents pay for this transplant.  She can afford to buy enough drugs to destroy two livers, but can’t afford enough money to at least pay for a plane ticket to New Zealand?  I wonder if such cases like this goes on with MEDICAID in the US?

Islamic Terrorists Sentenced for Australian Terror Plot

Published on February 15, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For those wondering, Australia has there own Islamic terrorist problem as well:

Five Sydney men convicted of terrorism-related offences have been sentenced to maximum sentences ranging from 23 to 28 years in prison.

In October last year, at the end of Australia’s longest terrorism trial, a jury found them guilty of conspiring to commit a terrorist act or acts.

During the sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court in Parramatta today, Justice Anthony Whealy said the men regarded their imprisonment as a badge of honour.

The judge referred to the chemicals, weapons and ammunition they stockpiled.

He said one of the men told a shop assistant he was buying hydrogen peroxide for his grandmother.

The judge said the men had material that glorified Osama Bin Laden and graphic images of violence involving hostages.

“One particular feature of this trial was the fact that a considerable volume of extremist material was held by each offender in common with the other conspirators,” he said.

He gave the men non-parole periods ranging from 17 to 21 years.

The men smiled at each other after the judge left the court.

Two of their supporters at the back of the public gallery shouted in Arabic, “Be patient, Allah is with you”.  [ABC Online]

I was living in Australia when these terrorism arrests happened and it was big news back then.  It is good to see these guys put away for good.