Australia

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The Australian government has ramped up scrutiny on the education centres in recent years over concerns that Beijing is using them to spread propaganda and spy on Chinese international students.

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There have been growing global concerns about the Chinese government's reach overseas through such education centres, with universities in America and Europe also choosing to close some of their branches.

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Confucius centres have now been removed from the campuses of the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland (UQ), the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Several universities cited disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic as the reason for not renewing their CI contracts.

A spokesperson for UNSW said the university was developing its own programme in Chinese studies and is committed to "encouraging open dialogue in the China-Australia bilateral relationship".

[...]

Full credit to the rouge republic of Western Australia on this one. What a friggin sick idea! Wish vicpol had the stones to do this.

They should scrap uniforms entirely imo

Meet Robyn Denholm, the Australian chair of Tesla

I'm generally a fan of pretty shit beer (XXXX is my day-to-day). But even I have my limits.

Back in the day, it was clearly Tooheys Red Bitter, but I think these even Red is getting a run for it's money, e.g. from Byron Bay Premium Lager, which is something like James Boags but with all the soul sucked out through the nostrils. Obviously Foster's fucking sucks too, but I don't think you can even buy their lager in Australia, the only place I ever drank it was on a Singapore airlines flight out of the country, and once in Paris. Though I just realised that "light ice" was theirs too, and my Grandparents somehow always had one bottle of that in their fridge in the 90s, and it was shit too.

Anyway, there's about a million types of beer produced in australia these days, and heaps of them suck, but I want to know if Red has been knocked off it's podium for the worst beer ever.

Red drinkers: fite me.

Didn't work out as she'd hoped I guess ?

The trial heard the "statement of notice" the woman handed to the care worker asserted she was "a living being sovereign to this land" who "hereby renounce and reject my former engagement with the courts… and their kronies (sic)… and disregard all orders as null and void".

Throughout the trial the woman regularly interrupted the proceedings, resulting in Judge Haesler finding her in contempt of court.

"[She] repeatedly interjected, directed personal insults to me and others, harassed witnesses (including her own [children]), refused my directions and orders and talked over me excessively," Judge Haesler wrote in a scathing judgement.

This is a gentle reminder to the Aussie Zone users to get your votes in today for our nomination for Lemmyvision 2 held by the good folks over at jlai.lu .

The link on this post should take you to the voting page, cast your vote as a comment as explained. If the way we're doing it is confusing, just do the best you can, and we'll try to deliver a free and fair election with whatever we get! ;)

Its been fun exploring Aussie music from the last year with everyone, head over to the folks at jlai.lu over the next week or so as the international songs start getting nominated!

^p.s. at work so don't have time to link everything properly, sorry its a bit rushed^

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20190657

Landmark report makes 34 recommendations to overhaul the superannuation sector, citing delays, poor customer service and ineffective procedures

From quaint beginnings as log crossings to sophisticated structures of modern transportation, timber bridges are interwoven in Australia's history.

And despite a number of government-owned timber bridges in Australia being in disrepair in the past decade, an engineer says there is still a place for clever uses of wood.

Over the decades, more than 200 bird species have been recorded at the EBO, which is wedged between Western Australia's remote south coast and arid Nullarbor Plain.

Originally a station on the Trans-Australian Telegraph Line, the remote property is now a known ornithological hotspot.

But for Ms Sobey, who has previously run as a Greens candidate for the federal seat of Farrer, the bush is the perfect escape from the "disappointment" of humanity.

I can emparhise with that feeling completely.

Research article referenced in the article (open access): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2025.2462988#abstract

Archive/non-paywall link.

Yesterday Queensland became the last state in Australia to sign on to the decade-long Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA) with the Commonwealth.

It means every state is on track to hit the minimum funding levels recommended all those years ago.

But exactly when those levels will be reached, what was agreed to in order to land the deal and the other basic terms have not been released, leading to calls for greater transparency (more on that later).

This kind of tugs both ways at me, the extra work just to buy a house, the waste and rubbish from festivals and events.

Respect and happy for the guy as an individual, reinforces my dillusion at society generally i guess?

But over the course of seven years, he managed to collect about $46,000 worth.

His can and bottle money was enough for the 36-year-old to put down a deposit on a two-bedroom home on the NSW Central Coast last year.

While he holds down a permanent job during the week, Mr Gordon also volunteers at events like music festivals, where he collects thousands of cans and bottles at a time.

Some of these events like weddings and music festivals, they produce so much waste."

https://aussie.zone/post/18782079

According to documents seen by SBS News, the Australian embassy in Iran was attacked in 2019. SBS News can reveal for the first time the alleged perpetrator was arrested and jailed for 17 months before walking free.

In short:

The federal election will be called tomorrow for May 3, the ABC has confirmed.

It triggers a five-week campaign to convince voters whether Labor under Anthony Albanese or the Coalition under Peter Dutton is most fit to lead the country.

What's next?

The prime minister will head to government house tomorrow morning to call the election.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has described another threatening letter sent to an exiled Hong Kong dissident in Australia as “reprehensible”, a “threat to our national sovereignty” and “the safety and security of Australians”.

The anonymous letter, mailed from Hong Kong and sent to Ted Hui’s Adelaide office, offered his colleagues $203,000 for information on his whereabouts and his family. It arrived just days after China’s foreign ministry accused the Albanese government of interfering with its internal affairs.

The letter, which contained a picture of Hui and personal details, claimed he was a “wanted person” for a “range of national security related offences including incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country”. It is now being investigated by Australian federal police.

The letter also accuses Hui, who fled to Australia via Europe in 2019, of leaving Hong Kong with $3m in proceeds of crime. Hui, who was a pro-democracy legislator in Hong Kong, denies that claim and says it is “fictitious”.

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A spokesperson for Wong escalated the Albanese government’s condemnation of the letters on Wednesday and said the matter would be directly raised with Chinese officials.

“Continued attempts to target individuals in Australia are reprehensible and threaten our national sovereignty, as well as the safety and security of Australians,” the spokesperson said.

“Australia will not tolerate the targeting, surveillance, harassment or intimidation of any person in Australia by a foreign government.

“The Australian government and our security agencies are acting to keep Australians safe, protect their democratic rights, and support affected individuals and communities.”

When Wong first raised concerns about the letters earlier this month, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, accused the Australian government of unacceptable interference in its domestic affairs.

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The Albanese government has delivered its final budget ahead of an election in May, with a fresh new round of tax cuts the major offer. Find out who else is set to benefit and who may miss out.

See also (overviews)

• The Conversation: At a glance: the 2025 federal budget (includes a simple calculator for the tax cuts)
• SBS News: Here's what the 2025 federal budget would look like if it were $100 (simple overview of where the money comes from and what it's being spent on)
• The Guardian: Australia budget 2025: the seven graphs you need to see

See also (general / politics)

• ABC News: The $17b tax cut no-one saw coming leads a pre-election budget where everyone's a winner
• The Conversation: This week’s federal budget will focus on cost-of-living measures – and a more uncertain global economy
• The Conversation: Tax cuts are coming, but not soon, in a cautious budget
• The Conversation: The 2025 budget has few savings and surprises but it also ignores climate change
• ABC News: Election battlelines drawn as tax clash overshadows 'budget for uncertain times'
• The Conversation: A ‘modest’ tax bribe, delivered against dark clouds of Trump-induced uncertainty
• The Guardian: Coalition will not support Labor’s budget tax cuts, Angus Taylor says

See also (specific areas)

• SBS News: Security funding for Jewish, Muslim worship sites in $178m social cohesion package
• ABC News: What the federal budget holds for businesses ahead of the election
• ABC News: A booming trade in illegal cigarettes has cost the federal budget $6.9 billion
• ABC News: Federal budget funds will expand the Help to Buy housing scheme. This is how it will work
• ABC News: Government uses federal budget to announce a ban on non-compete clauses for nearly 3m workers
• The Guardian: Labor defies criticism to add 3,400 public service roles
• ABC News: Women's health a 'national priority' as federal budget unveils new endometriosis clinics, menopause support
• The Conversation: The 2025 federal budget fails the millions of voters who want action on Australia’s struggling environment
• The Conversation: Australia stands firm behind its foreign aid in the budget, but the future remains precarious
• The Conversation: Is this the right budget for these economic times? We asked 5 experts

Other questions include whether science organisation receives funding from China and whether it is a climate or ‘environmental justice’ project