As economies across Europe sputter, Australia's has produced an "exceptional result" for its treasurer Wayne Swan (recently rated the world's best, incidentally).
Shoppers walk past a retail store window display in central Sydney on November 29, 2011. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)
As economies across Europe sputter, Australia's has produced an "exceptional result" for its treasurer Wayne Swan (recently rated the world's best, incidentally).
Maroochydore residents walk in torrential rain across the rising Maroochy River on January 11, 2011 on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/AFP/Getty Images)
Queensland — Australia's "Sunshine State" — is braced for a long wet summer, with rain forecast for 26 of the next 28 days.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (R) shares a light moment with US President Barack Obama before a dinner in Canberra on November 16, 2011. (Alan Porritt/AFP/Getty Images)
It's not often that a government found to be trailing its opposition in an opinion poll celebrates the results.
Australia's ruling Labor Party has voted resoundingly in support of gay marriage, although it may be some time before same-sex couples walk down the aisle.
Two women arrive prior to the start of the 34th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney on March 5, 2011. Hundreds of thousands turned out in Sydney on March 5 for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, which this year highlighted marriage equality. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)
Australia's ruling Labor Party has voted resoundingly in support of gay marriage, although it may be a while before same-sex couples walk down the aisle.
Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard chats with US President Barack Obama during a Meeting on Afghanistan on November 20, 2010 in Lisbon, as part of a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Summit of Heads of States and Government held on 19-20 November 2010. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images)
Australians will soon pay Julia Gillard more than Americans pay Barack Obama, the so-called the leader of the free world.
Australia has been offered a solution to the contentious issue of Australia's asylum seeker intake: take 50 percent more... with a commensurate increase in "offshore processing."
Relatives of some of the 30 killed when a boat full of asylum seekers crashed on the rocks at Christmas Island on Dec. 15, 2010, trying to reach Australian soil, grieve during Muslim and Christian services held Feb. 15, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Don Arnold/AFP/Getty Images)
Australia has been offered a solution to the contentious issue of Australia's asylum seeker intake: take 50 percent more... with conditions.
Australian police and customs authorities have seized drugs worth more than $30 million hidden in boxes of raisins from Afghanistan.
Australian police and customs authorities have seized drugs worth more than $30 million hidden in boxes of raisins from Afghanistan, according to news reports.
An intoxicated school leaver passes out along the fence line during the Schoolies Week celebrations in Surfers Paradise on November 23, 2008 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Sergio Dionisio/AFP/Getty Images)
"Schoolies week" — an annual rite of passage for Australian school leavers, who spend a week celebrating their liberation from the education system, preferably in a beachside location and invariably in an alcoholic stupor — has claimed another young life.
You think you know a little about the typical Aussie, right? Kangaroo-riding, croc-wrestling, beach-dwelling people with a genetic predisposition to having no worries, mate. Okay, so Australia has an abundance of furry — and sometimes fearsome — wildlife, year-round sunshine, and laid-back people. In fact, it's the happiest place on earth, according to a recent OECD report. But it is also a country that routinely locks up asylum seekers, sells its military services to the U.S. and everything else to the Chinese, and worst of all worships that ridiculously long and complex game, cricket. Through Down Under, we invite you to explore both the delights and the darker side of Australia.
Follow us: