Australia

Australian officials report biggest daily COVID-19 caseload for 2021

Australia's New South Wales state recorded its biggest daily rise in COVID-19 infections this year, even as residents in several major cities across the country were released from snap lockdowns…

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Australian job vacancies surge to record, firms struggle to find workers

Job vacancies in Australia hit record highs in the May quarter to be 57% above pre-pandemic levels, while businesses in all sectors reported difficulties in finding workers in a rapidly…

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Australia to halve arrivals from overseas

Australia will halve the number of arrivals from overseas as its coronavirus hotel quarantine system creaks under pressure from outbreaks of the highly transmissible Delta variant, Prime Minister Scott Morrison…

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Cruise operator Carnival’s units cancel Australian voyages through mid-December

Carnival Corp's Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia cancelled voyages in and out of the country through mid-December, citing uncertainty regarding the resumption of cruise holidays. Australia banned the entry…

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Photo Story – Fog in Sydney amid lockdown

A ferry under the Sydney Harbour Bridge shrouded in fog in Sydney, Australia, 30 June 2021. More than five million people in Greater Sydney and its surrounds have gone into…

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Australia’s NSW state says Delta outbreak grows despite lockdown

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state on Thursday warned that significant numbers of new COVID-19 cases were being found in the community, raising fears of fresh clusters as it reported…

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Sydney’s COVID-19 cases rise, four Australian cities in lockdown

Australia's New South Wales (NSW), the worst-hit state in the country's latest coronavirus outbreak, reported 22 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as four major cities endure a hard…

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Australia tightens lockdown amid Delta virus outbreak, vaccine chaos

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia reported a slight rise in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, while officials in several states tightened movement curbs and pushed for vaccinations to limit flare-ups of the highly…

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Three Australian cities lock down in fight against Delta COVID-19 variant

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported a slight rise in locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while officials tightened curbs to contain flare-ups of the highly infectious Delta variant in several other…

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Australia’s Sydney and Darwin in COVID-19 lockdowns

Sydney began a two-week lockdown on Sunday as a cluster of cases of the highly infectious coronavirus Delta variant rose to 110 in Australia's largest city, while an outbreak in…

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Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in two-week hard COVID-19 lockdown

Sydney and some surrounding areas will enter a hard two-week COVID-19 lockdown on Saturday as authorities struggle to control a fast-spreading outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant that has…

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Downtown Sydney, Bondi head for lockdown as Delta infections spike

Downtown Sydney and the city's eastern suburbs, which include Bondi Beach, will go into a one week lockdown from midnight Friday as authorities struggle to contain a spike in the…

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Sydney faces ‘scariest period’ in pandemic amid Delta outbreak

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported a double digit rise in new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day as officials fight to contain…

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Unliveable Sydney homes going for millions in Australia housing boom

Sydney houses with crumbling walls, shredded ceilings, and bathrooms and kitchens stripped of fixtures are getting snapped up for millions as buyers try to grab a slice of Australia's soaring…

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Sydney isolated as COVID-19 clusters build; NZ tightens curbs in capital

Australia's largest city of Sydney re-introduced "soft touch" COVID-19 curbs on Wednesday to contain a widening outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, mandating masks in offices while neighbouring states…

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Australia’s New South Wales extends mask mandate for Sydney as virus cluster grows

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), on Tuesday reported its biggest rise in new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in nearly a week, prompting authorities to extend a mask…

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Australian PM promises more COVID-19 shots to states as Sydney cluster grows

Australian states and territories will get more doses of COVID-19 vaccines soon, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, as authorities look to avoid further delays in an immunisation drive…

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Australia may list east coast koalas as endangered

Australia is considering listing koalas on the country's east coast as endangered, Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said on Friday in an emailed statement. Australia already classifies east coast…

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Sydney reinstates masks to contain Delta COVID-19 variant

Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) reverted on Friday to making the wearing of masks mandatory on public transport in Sydney, as a cluster of the highly-infectious coronavirus Delta variant expanded…

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Photo Story – Tamil asylum-seeker family reunites in Australia

Supporters of the Tamil asylum-seeker Murugappan family hold signs at Perth airport, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 15 June 2021 (issued 16 June 2021). Nades Murugappan and his Australian-born daughter…

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Australia recommends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine only for people over 60

Australia will recommend AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines only for people aged 60 years and over, while Pfizer shots will be offered to others, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Thursday. Australia…

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Pricey metals lure Australian thieves to strip cars of catalytic converters

Police in South Australia urged drivers on Wednesday to step up efforts to protect their cars, as thieves target the catalytic converters that scrub exhaust emissions, amid a surge in…

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Sydney records first local COVID-19 case in more than a month

Australia's most populous city Sydney has recorded its first locally acquired case of COVID-19 in more than a month, stoking concerns of a fresh wave of infections on Wednesday. New…

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Melbourne to end mandatory masks wearing outdoors, despite stubborn virus outbreak

Australia's second largest city will allow its five million residents to travel more than 25 kms (15 miles) from home and end mandatory masks wearing outdoors from Friday, despite the…

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Britain and Australia announce free trade deal, Johnson hail ‘new dawn’

Britain and Australia announced a trade deal on Tuesday that will eliminate tariffs and red tape, hailed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as "a new dawn" in the two…

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Australia’s top exporting state calls for reset in China ties

Australia's biggest exporting state on Tuesday urged Canberra to stop antagonising China, the country's top trade partner, in remarks that came amid escalating criticism of Beijing led by the United States, Australia's…

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Australia’s Victoria state expects further easing of COVID-19 curbs

Australia's Victoria state expects to announce further easing of COVID-19 restrictions this week, acting Premier James Merlino said on Sunday, as the state reported one new locally acquired infection for…

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Australia’s Victoria reports zero COVID-19 cases as lockdown ends

Australia's Victoria state reported zero locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the first time in nearly three weeks on Friday as state capital Melbourne came out of a snap two-week…

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Two Australian states on COVID-19 alert after infected woman’s interstate travel

Two Australian states are on COVID-19 alert after an infected woman and her husband traveled from Victoria, a state in lockdown, through the states of New South Wales and into…

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Photo Story: Snowfall in New South Wales, Australia

People walk in Carrington Park during snowfall in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia, 10 June 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/STEVEN SAPHORE

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UPDATED: Australia’s Melbourne to exit COVID-19 lockdown but some restrictions remain

Australia's second largest city Melbourne will exit a COVID-19 hard lockdown as planned on Thursday night, Victoria state authorities said, although some restrictions on travel and gatherings would likely remain…

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Australian financial crime watchdog widens probe on casinos already reeling from COVID

Australia's anti-money-laundering agency on Monday widened a probe into due diligence at casinos to include the three biggest operators, ratcheting up pressure on a sector already struggling with the pandemic…

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Australia’s Victoria logs biggest rise in COVID-19 cases in a week

Australia's Victoria state on Monday reported its biggest rise in new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in nearly a week as authorities scramble to track the source of the highly infectious…

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Australian media fined A$1.1m over Cardinal Pell trial reports

An Australian court on Friday ordered a dozen media firms to pay a total of A$1.1 million ($842,270) in fines for breaching a suppression order on reporting the conviction of…

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Australia’s Victoria detects Delta COVID-19 virus variant in latest outbreak

Australia's Victoria state authorities said on Friday genomic sequencing has detected for the first time the Delta COVID-19 virus variant among infections in the latest virus outbreak in state capital,…

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Australia’s Victoria posts lowest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in a week

Australia's second-most populous state, Victoria, reported its lowest rise in new COVID-19 cases in more than a week on Thursday, a day after authorities extended a snap lockdown in state…

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Australia’s economy booms to pre-pandemic levels as consumers, businesses spend

Australia's economy raced ahead last quarter as consumers and businesses spent with abandon, lifting output back above where it was last year when pandemic lockdowns tipped the country into its…

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Australia’s Victoria extends Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown for 2nd week

The Australian state of Victoria extended on Wednesday a snap coronavirus lockdown in its capital of Melbourne for a second week, as it scrambles to rein in a highly contagious…

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“Australia’s Greta Thunberg” steps up climate change activism

Leading thousands of protest marchers through central Sydney and joining a landmark class action lawsuit aren’t the usual activities for most 14-year-olds. But Australian student Izzy Raj-Seppings has abandoned more…

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Australia’s Victoria state reports 9 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases

Australia's second-most populous state Victoria on Tuesday reported nine new locally acquired COVID-19 cases as authorities grapple with an outbreak in state capital Melbourne with several thousands close contacts and more than…

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Australia’s carbon emissions drop 5% in 2020

Australia's carbon emissions fell by 5% in 2020 with growth in wind and solar energy, a hit to transport from coronavirus lockdowns, and a rise in carbon capture at the…

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Australia and New Zealand unite over China human rights issues

Australia and New Zealand on Monday expressed grave concerns over developments in Hong Kong and the human rights situation in the Xinjiang region of China, as the two nations sought…

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Australia’s Victoria COVID-19 cluster swells to 51, next few days ‘critical’

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria, the epicentre of the country's latest coronavirus hotspot, reported 11 new cases of community transmission on Monday and authorities warned the situation could worsen…

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Australia’s Victoria logs 5 COVID-19 cases amid lockdown, vaccination demand surges

Australia's Victoria state reported five new local COVID-19 cases on Saturday amid a strict lockdown, as people rushed to vaccination centres, causing long lines and technological glitches. The infections bring…

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Australia’s Victoria state sees fewer new COVID-19 cases on first day of lockdown

Australia's Victoria state reported fewer new local COVID-19 cases on Friday, the first day of a one-week hard lockdown imposed to contain a highly-infectious outbreak which authorities said could become…

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Australia expects warmer, wetter winter; rules out El Niño event

Australia's winter will probably be warmer than average, particularly across its grain-growing eastern regions, with a hotter Indian Ocean likely to bring rain to some areas, the weather bureau said…

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Australia’s Victoria state to enter COVID-19 lockdown after fresh outbreak

Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria will enter a one-week COVID-19 lockdown forcing its near seven million residents to remain home except for essential business as authorities struggle to…

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Australian state has biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases in 7 months

Australia's second most populous state reported on Wednesday its biggest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases in more than seven months and warned the next 24 hours would be critical to…

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Masks, social restrictions return to Australia’s Melbourne after fresh outbreak

Australia's second largest city Melbourne reinstated COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday as authorities scrambled to find the missing link in a fresh outbreak that has grown to five cases. Home gatherings will be…

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Photo Story – Frontline domestic and family violence workers demonstrate outside Parliament House in Canberra

Frontline domestic and family violence workers from Newcastle display on the lawn of Parliament House some 150 white dresses symbolizing the lives of women murdered in domestic violence, in Canberra,…

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Australia’s Victoria state investigates two likely COVID-19 positive cases

Australia’s second most populous state Victoria on Monday said it was investigating two suspected positive COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, which if confirmed would be the first community transmissions in the…

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Photo Story – School Strike 4 Life protest in Sydney

epaselect epa09216656 Students take part in the School Strike 4 Life protest in Sydney, Australia, 21 May 2021. Students across the country are striking in the name of climate action,…

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Facebook removes 110,000 pieces of Covid misinformation posted by Australian users

Facebook has removed more than 110,000 pieces of Covid-related misinformation generated by Australian accounts in the first year of the pandemic, the company has revealed. In February, Facebook, along with…

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Qantas accelerates cost-cutting as cash flow turns positive

Qantas Airways Ltd on Thursday announced fresh cost-cutting initiatives to help it weather the coronavirus crisis, and said debt had started to fall after it swung to a positive cash…

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Australian PM stands firm on border closure due to COVID-19, as industries plea for reopening

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said it was still not safe to allow residents fully-vaccinated for COVID-19 to travel overseas, as industries hit hard by the pandemic press for…

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Australia sticks by plan to reopen border in mid-2022

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Sunday the government will stick to plans to start reopening the country only from mid-next year, as pressure mounts on the ruling conservatives to…

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Sydney casinos to ban cash after money laundering scandal

Sydney's only two casinos will make their gaming operations cashless in a bid to stamp out money laundering. Regulators said The Star and Crown Sydney, which is yet to be…

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