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FROM AUSTRALIA - NEWS IN BRIEF

Recycling will be dumped by councils nationwide

Russian veto shows UN needs reform: Bishop

Low fuel reserves: Australia’s 43 days before ‘real trouble’

Australia hosting more than half million of international students

RBA board expects next rate move to be up

George Pell wants sex case thrown out

Turnbull appoints new Defence chiefs




Recycling will be dumped by councils nationwide

20/4/2018

(Translation appears in Arabic section)

Queensland- MT Times Int'l:  Other councils will soon follow Ipswich in scrapping their waste recycling programs as service costs skyrocket, the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says.

Ipswich City Council yesterday said China's import ban on recycling and the rising level of contaminated or non-recyclable rubbish in yellow bins meant it had become too costly for the city to recycle, so from now everything placed in yellow bins would go straight to landfill.

But LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said Ipswich had set a precedent other local governments would consider seriously.

  Image result for Recycling will be dumped by councils nationwide

"We believe it'll be the first of many in Queensland and indeed across Australia," he said.

"Since China has closed its doors to our waste, the effective cost increases to councils are 400 and 500 per cent — it's just not feasible that councils can sustain those losses.

Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli said "I think [Australia is] going to be grappling with waste, particularly recyclable waste, for some time,".

"It's not just for Ipswich, it will be this whole nation will be affected by it, so we do need to come up with other options to handle our waste, may even be looking at waste to energy as an option."

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Russian veto shows UN needs reform: Bishop

London: Russia's ability to block investigations into chemical weapons attacks in Syria shows the United Nations needs reform, Australia's foreign minister says.

Julie Bishop has been talking to other UN countries about how to reform the security council, which gives each of the five permanent members a veto on decisions.

"In an example like this, the resolution was for an independent investigation into the use of chemical weapons against civilians," Ms Bishop told reporters in London on Tuesday.

"To have that blocked by a permanent member of the security council raises obvious concerns."

 Image result for Low fuel reserves: Australia’s 43 days before ‘real trouble’

Low fuel reserves: Australia’s 43 days before ‘real trouble’

Canberra: Australia is in “real trouble” of running out of fuel by the end of next month in the wake of the Syria strikes, according to experts.

The International Energy Agency mandates that countries hold a stock in reserve “equivalent to 90 days of net imports” but Australia only has 43 days worth of supply, media reports.

Australia’s energy security is dependent on regional refineries and oil flows from the Middle East with 91 per cent of all our transport fuels imported in this way. But there is no plan B in case of an oil and fuel supply interruption, according to experts.

Liberal Senator Jim Molan, a former major general in the Australian Army, on Monday told 2GB that “we stand in real trouble and this is a single point of failure for Australia, very similar to what could happen in a cyber situation”.

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Australia hosting more than half million of international students

Sydney: Australia is hosting unprecedented numbers of international students, who now make up more than a quarter of enrolments at some universities.

The number of international students in Australia has increased by 12 per cent this year as enrolment numbers continue to rise exponentially.

Department of Education figures show that in February, Australian universities, private colleges, English language courses, and schools registered a combined 542,054 enrolments.

That compares with 305,534 total enrolments five years ago.

Students from China make up the largest proportion of students at 31 per cent, followed by India, Nepal, Malaysia and Vietnam.

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RBA board expects next rate move to be up

Sydney: The Reserve Bank board members believe that their next interest rate move will be a hike, though it may not come for some time yet.

The minutes of the RBA's April board meeting show Governor Philip Lowe's recently stated view that the next move for the cash will be a rise was shared by the other eight board members.

"In current circumstances, members agreed that it was more likely that the next move in the cash rate would be up, rather than down," the minutes, released on Tuesday, said.

     Image result for George Pell wants sex case thrown out

George Pell wants sex case thrown out

Brisbane: Cardinal George Pell's lawyers want the "impossible" sex offence case against him thrown out, arguing the allegations are potentially motivated by a desire to punish the Catholic Church.

Defence barrister Robert Richter QC said Pell had been targeted as Australia's most senior Catholic amid hatred and public furore over the church's response to clergy abuse.

"We say that Cardinal Pell, representing the face of the Catholic Church, a prominent person, had been the obvious target of allegations that are not true but are designed to punish him, almost, for not having prevented sexual abuse for many years."

Mr Richter suggested some of the allegations were the product of fantasy, mental problems or pure invention.

     Image result for Turnbull appoints new Defence chiefs

Turnbull appoints new Defence chiefs

* Chief of the Defence Force: Angus Campbell

Canberra: An army chief recognised for his tough stance against domestic violence and tight-lipped approach to border protection will soon oversee Australia's armed forces.

Lieutenant General Angus Campbell joined the Australian Army in 1981, graduating from Duntroon in 1984, and initially served as a platoon commander in a parachute battalion.

He served as a troop and squadron commander before being appointed a commanding officer in 2001, with his battalion group deployed to East Timor as part of a United Nations response.

* Vice Chief of the Defence Force: David Lance Johnston

He joined the Royal Australian Naval College in 1978, graduating in 1982, and later specialised as a principal warfare officer.

Vice Admiral Johnston served as the commanding officer on several vessels and oversaw a deployment to Fiji in 2006.

In 2007 he took responsibility for planning maritime operations and training the Navy's ships, submarines and diving teams.

The following year he was elevated to oversee the execution of all Australian Defence Force operations both overseas and within Australia.


 














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