The Arrival Ceremony of the Prime Minister of Australia and Mrs. Morrison at the White House

A Message from Her Majesty The Queen to the People of Australia following the recent Droughts

Prince Philip and I have been deeply saddened to hear of one of the worst Australian droughts in living memory.

I know Australia as a land where extremes of weather, floods and droughts are taken in their stride, and life goes on with a stoic and determined spirit.

It is clear, however, that the current drought is taking an immense toll, especially on those living and working in rural communities, who are, in so many ways, the very heart and soul of Australia. 

It is heartening and reassuring to see that families, communities and the entire nation are working together and supporting each other at this time of need.

My thoughts and prayers are with the many individuals, families, communities and businesses who have been affected, and I send my sincere thanks to all those who stand shoulder-to-shoulder in their support. 

Elizabeth R.

Pozieres: Three Australian Soldiers Buried in Northern France on Centenary of Battle

The three soldiers were laid to rest alongside their mates.

Three unknown Australian soldiers who have been missing since 1916 have been buried on the centenary of the Battle of Pozieres.

The remains were discovered around the tiny French town of Pozieres over the past few years and, during a solemn military funeral at a Commonwealth cemetery, they were finally laid to rest alongside their mates.

"They deserve no less," Bob Taylor, a firefighter and military enthusiast from Manchester who found one of the men while walking through the old battlefields," said.

Read more at ABC News >>

Australia's Election: Malcolm Turnbull Warned Party Infighting Could Jeopardise Election Outcome

Malcolm Turnbull - A tight election result is causing backlash within the Liberal Party.

A key backer of Malcolm Turnbull has told him there is a real risk that Bill Shorten could become prime minister if the Coalition "falls into a rabble" over the outcome of the federal election.

It is a nervous wait for Mr Turnbull, who will not know until the end of the week whether he has won enough seats for the Coalition to win a majority in the Lower House.

But the recriminations have begun and the outcome is fuelling growing anger within the Coalition over the performance of the Prime Minister.


Read more at ABC >

33 Australian Soldiers Who Died in the Vietnam War Return Home

The coffins were flown back to Australia on two military planes

From Mail Online

In May last year, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that the government would pay for the repatriation of 36 Australian servicemen and dependents from Malaysia and Singapore. The bodies of 32 Australian service personnel and their dependents were buried in the Commonwealth War Cemetery at the Terendak Camp, Melaka state in early 1960s Former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott offered to pay for the repatriation of 36 Australian servicemen and dependents.

Australian soldiers formed a guard of honour for the 33 coffins

Islamic Preacher Musa Cerantonio Among Five Arrested Over Alleged Plan to Join Islamic State

Musa Cerantonio was allegedly trying to take a boat to Indonesia from Queensland.

Notorious Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio is among five men arrested in far north Queensland over an alleged plan to take a boat to Indonesia and join the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

Shayden Thorne, the brother of another hardline Islamist, Junaid Thorne, was also arrested.

Also in custody is Kadir Kaya, who last year told a Melbourne radio station he wanted to leave Australia because he felt Muslims were not welcome, but could not because the authorities had confiscated his passport.

Police arrested the men on Tuesday as they were towing a boat towards Cape York, in far north Queensland.

They are being held on suspicion of foreign incursion offences.

Police would not disclose how long ago the men travelled from Melbourne to northern Australia but believe they were intending to travel through Indonesia and the Philippines to Syria.

Read more at ABC News >> 

Free Movement Proposed Between Canada, U.K, Australia, New Zealand

The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization wants to see free movement policies between Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. (Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization)

From cbcnews-British Columbia

When James Skinner moved from the United Kingdom to Australia, he fell in love with Melbourne, landed a great job, met a great group of friends, settled down in his new home — only to leave because permanent residency was much harder to obtain than he anticipated.  

Skinner, who now lives in Vancouver, says he fears the same experience could happen again.

• Vasco Castela loses job, may have to leave Canada over immigration mix up
• Permanent residency spouse sponsorship delays leave new dad unable to support family

"We are virtually the same people," he told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff, referring to countries within the Commonwealth.

"The only thing that divides us is the cover of our passports."

Skinner, who is the founder and executive director of the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization, is calling on politicians in Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand to loosen restrictions on visas and work permits between the four countries.

He says citizens within the European Union can work and reside indefinitely in each of the 28 member states, and a similar policy occurs between Australia and New Zealand.

There's no reason why something similar can't happen between Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, he argued.

"We've had that Commonwealth tie for generations and decades in the past, we've stuck together through thick and thin, [we] share the same head of state, the same native language, the same respect for the common law," he said.

"It's not something completely out there that we're proposing."

The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization's petition has already gathered nearly 25,000 online signatures.

Skinner says he plans to send the petition to politicians in New Zealand and Australia, and then to the Canadian and British governments, pending elections in each respective country.

Ditch NATO, Defend the Anglosphere

Magna Carta - a shared foundation for freedom

From The Hill

By Bernie Quigley

Suggested in the days between the Velvet Revolution and the Orange Revolution — which you do not hear much about these days — that "they," meaning those in the unfortunate neverwhere between the old Soviet Union and Greater America, were not really calling for Thomas Jefferson, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Abrahama Lincoln for liberation. More like Calvin Klein and Michael Jackson. Even the honored Czech poet and then-President Vaclav Havel, seeking a front-row bench in the "West," would pitch musician Frank Zappa as avatar and inspiration. This has been the odd model of the American conquest since World War II. The French in their imperial day would send the soldiers, then they would send the priests. We send Frank Zappa and Lady Gaga, Starbucks, McDonald's and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bono and Mick Jagger. Possibly what is today causing the stellar decline of American influence in the world is that most under 50 don't know who Frank Zappa was.

ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand

Today our New Zealand and Australian friends and allies observe ANZAC Day.  Originally,  this was a day of remembrance for all those of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought and died at Gallipoli  during World War I.  Today it is a day to remember and honor all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations."

Tony Abbott to be New Australian Prime Minster after 'Landslide Win'

Surrounded by family, Australia's new Prime Minister casts his vote.

Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott swept into office today in a landslide election after incumbent prime minister Kevin Rudd conceded defeat.

Mr Abbott vowed to lead a trustworthy, competent government that would restore political stability, cut taxes and crack down on asylum seekers arriving by boat.

"From today I declare that Australia is under new management and Australia is once more open for business," the victor said.

Mr Rudd wished his rival well as he accepted he had been beaten at the polls.

With 80 percent of the votes counted, the Australian Electoral Commission showed Mr Abbott's Liberal/National coalition was leading in 88 seats in the House of Representatives, to Labour's 56.

Read more at The Telegraph >>

Alliances: Three Cheers for the Anglosphere

From The Strategist 
By Peter Jennings 

 

Almost inevitably, I find myself disagreeing with another column by Hugh White, this time in The Age newspaper of 9 July, in which he damns the foreign policy of the Gillard government, condemns the poverty of Tony Abbott’s thought on the issue and praises the perspicacity of Kevin Rudd, because he ‘understands’ the effect of strategic change in Asia.  That’s a target rich environment, but I’ll limit my rebuttal to just one aspect of Hugh’s piece: his casual dismissal of the Anglosphere:

Radical Pro-Abortion Australian Prime Minister Ousted After Strident Gender/Abortion Speech

Australia's Hillary Clinton - Ms. Julia Gillard

Australian Prime Minister and co-founder of EMILYs List in Australia, Julia Gillard, has been spectacularly dumped by her own party last night in the face of certain electoral wipe-out in the September 2013 federal election.  

The ousting comes just over three years to the day that she dislodged the man who has now just replaced her – Kevin Rudd. Rudd stepped into his new role as Prime Minister after winning a 57-45 leadership ballot of Labor lawmakers. It also comes days after she delivered a much-maligned speech in which she raised gender and abortion as issues in the next election.

Read more at LifeSiteNews >>

Australians Forced to Answer Questions About Sex Life

Citizens face jail time for refusing to answer intrusive government survey

A survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has gone from a voluntary survey regarding economical issues such as employment, to mandatory personal questions regarding one’s sex life.

Australian citizens have been complaining about government surveyors knocking on their doors and asking very intrusive personal questions. One resident in particular was asked what sexual partners his wife had, and also asked when either of them would be home alone. If residents decline these questions, they can face fines or even jail time.

The Australian government has been conducting what they refer to as a “Monthly Population Survey” (MPS) since 1960 in order to provide regular information about the country’s workforce. However, recent complaints have revealed the questions are much more personal than how long you’ve been out of work.

Read more at Infowars.com >>

A Proud Nation Should Not Be Bashful of Its Past

An Australian View of the Anglosphere

From The Age
By Chris Berg 

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr with Buddhist monks during a visit to Cambodia in March. Photo: AFP

 Our Foreign Minister can be very emphatic. Bob Carr told an audience last month it was ''too risky'' for Australia ''even to glance in the direction of talk of an Anglosphere''.

That is, to even think about talking about the deep relationship we have with the English-speaking world would be international relations suicide - like using the wrong fork at a dinner party. We would offend our neighbours and lose our friends.

It was clear who Carr was criticising. His speech didn't mention the Opposition Leader, but Tony Abbott is a big fan of the Anglosphere. Earlier this year, Carr's predecessor, Kevin Rudd, was explicit: Abbott's belief in the Anglosphere is one of the reasons he must be kept out of government.

The Aussie Way: An Interview with Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard

John Howard was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1974 to 2007, and prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.

Prime Minister Howard offers insights into Australia's own special relationship with the United States beginning with why Australia's participation in the Iraq war was in his nation's best interest. Echoing parallels with the United States, he offers his views on multiculturalism which he calls a very confused credo—and Australia's role in the Anglosphere, particularly as it relates to China, its largest and most powerful Asian neighbor. He speaks of the current financial crisis and the need to remain confident in the market and the dangers of over-regulation.

Prime Minister Say Australia Faces Major Terror Threat

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that his country is now under a permanent and increased threat of militant attack.

He also announced plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from 10 high-risk countries.

Read the rest of this entry >>