POLITICS & POLICY

Brisbane Airport has been lauded by the country’s corporate watchdog for the period covering 2009/10 while Sydney and Melbourne airports are grappling with services and car parking issues for the same period.

Former Philippines army chief and defence minister Angelo Reyes reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday by shooting himself in front of his mother’s grave at a sprawling memorial park near the capital Manila.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan confirmed earlier projections by economists that a slow down would characterise the first three months of the Australian economy as it starts to absorb the impacts of the twin disasters that ravaged the northern states of the country from December last year through the last week of January.

The Commonwealth Government will provide assistance for communities in Western Australia hit by severe bushfires over the past 72 hours.

Commonwealth assistance will be extended to areas in Victoria affected by severe rainfall and flooding over the weekend, according to Attorney-General Robert McClelland.

British official admits government may have its share in picking up the tab for the royal wedding but clarified that it’s only ‘in terms of security and policing’ to ensure success of the most awaited event.

Fresh data released by the Australian government has shown that the country's commercial interests in the African resources sector have grown significantly and tripled in the last few years.

The federal government appears backpedalling from an earlier commonwealth health reform agreement that guarantees government funding for the bulk of required finances for Australian public hospitals.

Its earlier announcement of operations commencement by March this year could see bits of delay, according to Chi-X Australia Pty, as the definite timetable competition guidelines set to be released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) appear far from realisation.

Concessions offered by the beleaguered government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were rejected as opposition leaders demanded on Monday for the immediate end of his 30-year rule as demonstrations calling for his ouster entered their 14th day, which has rattled this North African nation.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has slammed Tony Abbott’s calls for $100,000 low interest loans for small businesses affected by natural disasters in Queensland, saying this is $150,000 short of what’s already available for victims of the recent floods.

Thai oil firm PTTEP will keep its license and will be allowed continuous but monitored operations in Australia despite the 2009 Montara oil spill incident in Timor Sea.

A Nationals legislator urged West Australians to show their full support on the state’s dairy industry by shunning away from the milk products found on the supermarket shelves of Coles, I-G-A and Woolworths.

Australians waiting to be evacuated from tension-filled Egypt may have to wait for awhile in escaping from the unrests gripping the North African nation as the second chartered Qantas plane dispatched by the government to fetch them got stuck in Germany.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Attorney-General Robert McClelland have announced Commonwealth Government assistance for people in Far North Queensland affected by the impact of Tropical Cyclone Yasi.

Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development Mark Arbib and Linfox Australia congratulated 12 new Indigenous employees as part of the company’s commitment to hire 500 Indigenous Australians by 2013.

The sense of fear and anxiety underlined the dilemma facing Washington, which is working behind the scenes to push Mubarak aside without terrifying autocratic allies in the region.

After winning the $580 million contract of manufacturing plane parts for the Australian air force, engineering firm Quickstep saw it fit to move out of Perth and occupy the site vacated by Boeing in Sydney when the aircraft maker moved to Victoria.

Cougar Energy Ltd said on Wednesday that the decision to shut down its Kingaroy underground coal gasification (UCG) plant was based by the Queensland government on a report fraught with “a number of factual inaccuracies.”

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has activated the Australian government’s commonwealth disaster plan (Comdisplan) yesterday afternoon as tropical cyclone Yasi heads towards the Queensland coast.

Muslims in Australia's state of Victoria have today expressed solidarity with those protesting across Egypt against the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

A third term for Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board member Professor Warwick McKibbin is unlikely when his tenure wraps up this year, according to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, who added that McKibbin has had a long stay on the board.

Wikileaks have exposed the vanities and the bizarre world of Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi in the documents that have now reached the world wide web. Written by British diplomats, the said documents were released by Wikileaks to The Daily Telegraph, which also highlighted the unusual ways Britain has been undertaking to strengthen its relationship with Libya.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's deputy offered a gesture of conciliation on Monday, as pressure from street protests, Western allies and the army appeared to be ending Mubarak's 30 years of one-man rule.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout on Tuesday announced a slew of packages from the Federal Government to assist communities affected by the epic flooding.

Western powers should work on the assumption that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by next year and an Israeli intelligence assessment of 2015 could be over-optimistic, British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said on Monday.

The Federal Government is sending a plane to evacuate Australians trapped by the political crisis in Egypt, where at least 125 people have been killed in protests in the past six days.

The Premier of Queensland, Ms Anna Bligh and the Commonwealth Bank Group's Chief Executive Officer have announced a comprehensive flood assistance initiatives totalling over $57 million to help the Group's customers and communities affected by the recent floods that have occurred in Queensland, Victoria and other affected States.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore on Monday announced that the city's central business district (CBD) is starting to produce fresh crops as vegetable patches throughout the CBD has transformed the city as part of the 'Live Green' summer planting program.