POLITICS & POLICY

Timor Leste’s Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao called upon his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, Wednesday, to explain the allegation of spying in which it is reported that Australian Security Intelligence Service (ASIS) bugged the Timorese cabinet office in 2004, during sensitive negotiations for the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMAT) treaty between the two countries.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has recruited a retired brigadier to oversee his government's crackdown on criminal bikie gangs in the state. Media reports say that the retired brigadier Bill Mellor, a former infantry platoon commander and army helicopter pilot, who is known for taking on violent warlords in Somalia in the 1990s, will now head the Queensland government crack team against the notrious bikie gangs.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Yesterday in Australia, GDP grew by only 0.6% q/q in Q3, weaker than market expectations seeing the Aussie Dollar weaker.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott may not have to use his threat to not allow MPs to have a Christmas break for failure to pass his party's legislative agenda. Reports said that the Liberals and the Greens have agreed to remove the federal limit on borrowing and to fund everyday services through the issue of more commonwealth bonds.

Although the furor over the spying row between Australia and Indonesia has been reduced, the diplomatic impasse is far from resolved as Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa insisted on an explanation for Canberra's wiretapping on the mobile phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and several other officials.

The United States military has halted cargo movement through Pakistan after large scale protests in the country against U.S. drone strikes. The route, from Torkham Gate at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the Pakistani port city of Karachi, is the key route for ground transport of military cargo. Although there are other routes, reports say, they are significantly more expensive.

Australian authorities are investigating whether a Chinese postdoctoral student who recently worked at the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation laboratory in Melbourne actually accessed unauthorized sensitive data at the Organisation's nanotechnology laboratory. The laboratory works closely with Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation.

Secret service agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) raided the homes of a lawyer and a former spy of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) in Canberra after it was revealed that they intended to approach an international court in The Hague, backing East Timor’s case that Australia had bugged the East Timorese Cabinet ahead of the sensitive oil and gas revenue-sharing negotiations between both countries.

MP Craig Thomson used the alias Jeff Thomson to order escort services using Health Services Union funds

New Zealand has once again been named the least corrupt nation in 2013, tied with Denmark for the top spot.

Tough measures adopted by Australia may have helped the country slash the number of asylum-seekers landing on its shores; however, reports from Sri Lanka indicate that its measures have not succeeded in discouraging people from attempting to make the dangerous journey by boat.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar has moved above US 0.9100 in preparation for key American economic data releases.

The Commonwealth cannot stop the first ever same-sex marriage happening on Saturday

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has threatened on Tuesday Labor MPs to put on his Uncle Scrooge cap and cancel Parliament's Christmas break if the lawmakers from the Opposition agrees to pass the Abbott-led government's legislative agenda.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had no plan to reform the way ABC operates, in spite of accusing the country’s public broadcaster of “poor judgement” for publishing leaked NSA documents of Edward Snowden about Australia’s intelligence gathering operations in Indonesia.

Accusing Labor of giving the country’s voters the “two-fingered salute,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott threatened to have the Parliament session extend well up to Christmas Eve unless the country’s opposition agrees to clear his government’s legislative agenda.

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index of 2013 has listed Australia as among the 'big decliners' from 85 in 2012 to 81 in 2013 (on a scale from 0 perceived "highly corrupt" to 100 perceived "very clean.").

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, on Tuesday, vowed to adopt measure to circumvent the Senate block on the government's proposed temporary protection visa (TPV). Reacting to Senate disallowance of the measure, he, however, did not specify what measure the government intended to adopt.

Following the spying claims made against Australia by Indonesia and the latest Edward Snowden leaks, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key sought confirmation from GCSB director Ian Fletcher that the spy agency does not collect metadata from Kiwis.

The Western Australia (WA) government’s efforts to build a new cosmopolitan city of Karratha in the traditional mining town on Pilbara got a fillip this weekend with the opening of a new main street, the town’s first ever with street lights. The town has been in the news recently for all the good reasons. Late November, mining major Rio Tinto approved the expansion of its iron-ore operations in the Pilbara to 360-million tonnes a year by 2017.

ICAC commenced hearing on Murray Kear’s alleged corrupt conduct.

Almost two years after initially receiving in Feb 2012 the temporary operating licence (TOL) of its rare earths plant facility, Australian miner Lynas Corp continues to face resistance from environmentalists in Malaysia.

The police in Sydney arrested two men on Tuesday for their attempt to help fighters in the Syrian Civil war. A 39-year-old has been charged for being "actively involved in recruiting" Australian men and facilitating their travel to Syria; a 23-year-old was arrested for attempting to travel to Syria for participation in the ongoing civil war.

The Guardian Australia and ABC slammed by senators on Snowden leaked documents

A UN panel of investigators have collected evidence showing the scale and viciousness of the human rights abuses being perpetrated by both sides in the Syrian conflict.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar lost ground overnight on the back of a much stronger ISM result out of the US.

Posing a new challenge to the Abbott government, reports published in The Guardian Australia on Monday revealed that Australian intelligence agency, then known as the Defence Signals Directorate and now called the Australian Signals Directorate, offered a broader sweep of material to its partners - the U.S., UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Australia has assumed leadership of the G20 meeting in 2014 and invited New Zealand and Singapore to attend a forum of the world's leaders. The G20 meeting is expected to bring in 4,000 delegates and 3,000 media personnel in Brisbane.New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the Mr Abbott called him last Nov. 27 to extend the G20 invitation. Mr Abbott said New Zealand may be a small country but it has a significant role in the global economy so it is capable of providing valuable insight.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that carbon tax repeal is the “best possible Christmas present” for Australians.