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New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters arrives at a news conference after he attended an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, March 22, 2019. The role of deputy prime minister, a key sticking point in the discussions, will be split between the populist NZ First party leader Winston Peters and ACT party leader David Seymour, the group announced in a statement. National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis will be finance minister and Peters will be foreign minister, the parties said. The coalition plans to repeal a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration and a ban on the sale of cigarettes to future generations introduced by the previous Labour government, according to coalition documents. "Foreign affairs does matter to this country.... all relationships do matter to this country," Peters said in a joint news conference in the capital Wellington after the announcement.

Persons: Winston Peters, Murad Sezer, David Seymour, Nicola Willis, Peters, Christopher Luxon, Luxon, ” Luxon, Jacinda, Helen Clark, Lucy Craymer, Praveen Menon, Diane Craft Organizations: Zealand's, of Islamic Cooperation, REUTERS, ACT NZ, National Party, NZ First, ACT, Party, Reserve, New Zealand, Bank of New, Labour, “, New Zealanders, Police, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, WELLINGTON, Bank of New Zealand, Wellington, Niue

Hadri and Umar on Thursday began their defence after being accused of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. Sirul was arrested on an Interpol notice and has been held in an Australian immigration detention centre since January 2015, after fleeing Malaysia shortly before the verdict was handed down. His release comes just days after a landmark ruling by Australia's High Court that outlawed indefinite immigration detention, leading to the release of dozens of asylum seekers. Malaysia's top police official Razarudin Husain confirmed news of Sirul's release from Australian detention and said police would discuss with the Attorney-General and the courts the possibility of seeking extradition. Sirul was serving as a member of Najib’s personal security detail at the time of the murder.

Persons: Azilah Hadri, Sirul Azhar Umar, Hadri, Umar, Bazuki Muhammad, Najib Razak, Sirul, Razarudin Husain, Sirul’s, Najib, Praveen Menon, Rozanna, Lincoln Organizations: Thursday, Mongolian, REUTERS, Rights, Australia's, Attorney, Thomson Locations: Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur, KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysian, Australia, Malaysia, Canberra, Malaysia’s, Sydney

SYDNEY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Millions of Australians were left without a phone or internet connection on Wednesday after the country's second-largest telecommunications provider experienced an unexplained nationwide outage. "Our teams are working urgently to restore services. The government had sought further information from Optus including when they expected to restore services. Melbourne's train networks were forced to shut down for about 30 minutes due to the outage, resulting in delays during the morning rush, media reported. A cyber breach last year hit Optus, exposing personal details of millions of its customers, including their home addresses, driver licence and passport numbers.

Persons: telco, Michelle Rowland, Rowland, Renju Jose, Praveen Menon, Stephen Coates Organizations: SYDNEY, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications, Commonwealth Bank, CBA, Reuters, Federal Communications, ABC Radio, Thomson Locations: Sydney

[1/2] Voters walk past Vote 'Yes' and Vote 'No' signs at the Old Australian Parliament House, during The Voice referendum in Canberra, Australia, October 14, 2023. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Australian Indigenous leaders called on Sunday for a week of silence and reflection after a referendum to recognise the First Peoples in the constitution was decisively rejected by a majority of the population. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people make up 3.8% of Australia's 26 million population and have inhabited the country for about 60,000 years. The leaders said they would lower the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flag to half-mast for the week and urged others to do the same. 'REFLECT HARD'Prime Minister Anthony Albanese staked significant political capital on the Voice referendum, but his critics say it was his biggest misstep since coming to power in May last year.

Persons: Tracey Nearmy, Lloyd Walker, Walker, Jade Ritchie, it’s, Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton, Cordelia Hsu, Jill Gralow, Chizu Nomiyama Organizations: Old Australian, House, REUTERS, Rights, Peoples, Aboriginal, First Peoples, national rugby, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Canberra, Australia, Torres, Canada, New Zealand

[1/2] A ‘No’ sign sits in front of the Tent Embassy near the Old Australian Parliament House as voters arrive during The Voice referendum, in Canberra, Australia, October 14, 2023. An Australian referendum requires a majority vote in at least four of its six states, as well as nationally. Ultimately, no state supported the "Voice" and the national vote was 40% "Yes" to 60% "No", according to preliminary counting. After the votes were counted, Dutton said his party supported Indigenous reconciliation but he made no mention of an alternative measure. Albanese, asked on Saturday why the vote had failed, said no referendum had succeeded without bipartisan support.

Persons: Tracey Nearmy, Anthony Albanese, Kos Samaras, Matt Qvortrup, Peter Dutton, Dutton, Timothy Graham, Graham, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Chris Hemsworth, Jason Mamoa, Shaquille O'Neal, Samaras, Donald Trump, Paul Smith, Smith, Albanese, Qvortrup, Byron Kaye, Praveen Menon, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Tent Embassy, Old Australian, House, REUTERS, Rights, Labor, Redbridge Group, Australian National University, Liberal Party, Queensland University of Technology, Qantas, NBA, Labor Party, U.S, European Union, Liberal, Thomson Locations: Tent, Canberra, Australia

REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Phone lines at 13Yarn, a national Indigenous helpline in Australia, are ringing off the hook. Australians will vote 'Yes' or 'No' to a single line question, asking whether they agree to alter the 122-year old constitution to recognise the First Peoples. It will also create a body, called the Voice to Parliament, that can advise the government on matters affecting the Indigenous community. Supporters believe the change will unite Australia and usher in a new era with its Indigenous people, who continue to be the most marginalised people in Australia. Ian Hamm an Aboriginal man who chairs the First Nations Foundation, an Aboriginal rights organisation, said he felt his community’s voice was at risk of being silenced.

Persons: Jaimi, Marjorie Anderson's, Anderson, they've, Nathan Allen, Gilbert, Tobin, Allen, Surya Deva, Deva, Price, Anthony Albanese, Ian Hamm, Praveen Menon, Kat Stafford, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Australia, United Nations, Development, UN, Indigenous Peoples, First Peoples ., Authorities, Indigenous, Nations Foundation, Thomson Locations: Todd, Alice Springs, Australia, 13Yarn, Torres, Australia's, Sydney, Canada, New Zealand

[1/5]A Yes23 volunteer holds pamphlets while speaking with commuters about the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum, in Melbourne, Australia August 30, 2023. Some senior Liberal party leaders, however, have broken ranks and supported the Voice referendum. "The Voice delivers recognition and respect to Indigenous Australians in the manner they have sought," Turnbull said in an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday. In the most recent referendum in 1999, Australians voted against changing the constitution to establish Australia as a republic. "I’m just trying to vote yes for the recognition of the real owners of Australia," Sydney resident Oscar Rodas, who was at one of the campaigns, told Reuters.

Persons: Albanese, SYDNEY, Anthony Albanese, Pat Anderson, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, James Ross, Malcolm Turnbull, Turnbull, I’m, Oscar Rodas, Cordelia Hsu, Stephen Coates Organizations: Wednesday, Aboriginal, Torres Strait, First Nations Peoples, Liberal, REUTERS Acquire, Liberal Party, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Torres Strait, Adelaide, Torres, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Melbourne, Lincoln

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday that a referendum to recognise the country's Indigenous people in its constitution will be held on October 14. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who represent about 3.2% of Australia's nearly 26 million population, are not mentioned in the constitution. Here are five things to know about the referendum:PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTIONThe Parliament in August agreed to propose adding a new chapter, Chapter IX-Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to the Constitution. The referendum question would be: "A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. The election commission has said the referendum will see more voting services delivered to remote communities than any other vote in Australia's history.

Persons: Praveen Menon, Alasdair Pal Organizations: SYDNEY, Aboriginal, Torres Strait, Torres Strait Islander Peoples, First Peoples of, Torres Strait Islander, Executive Government, Peoples of Australia, Australian Capital Territory, ACT, Thomson Locations: Australia, Australia's, First Peoples of Australia, Commonwealth, Northern Territory, Sydney

A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Australia's second-largest pension fund plans to open its first overseas office by mid-2024, its chief investment officer said on Friday, the latest retirement manager to look overseas as the country's pension sector outgrows the home market. The team will "almost certainly" be based in London and only be small because ART relies mostly on external managers, Patrick said, adding the office would likely open between now and mid-2024. A decision on a second overseas office would be made 12 to 24 months after the first opens. ART invests roughly two-thirds of all new money funds overseas.

Persons: Hollie Adams, Ian Patrick, Patrick, HarbourVest, Neuberger Berman, Lewis Jackson, Praveen Menon, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Stepstone, AustralianSuper, Nikkei, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, New York, China

Bottles of Australian wine are seen at a store selling imported wine in Beijing, China November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Australia's wine industry faces severe oversupply problems that will need years to resolve, experts say, pointing to Chinese tariffs, high production and export bottlenecks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent removal of tariffs on Australian barley has fed hopes for an early easing of the five-year tariffs China imposed on Australian wine in 2021. Australian wine exports declined a tenth in value to A$1.87 billion and 1% in volume to 621 million litres in the year ended June, Wine Australia’s Export Report said in July. "All we can say is next time you go to buy a bottle of wine, make sure it's Australian," McLean said.

Persons: Florence, Pia Piggott, Lee McLean, McLean, Piggott, Praveen Menon, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Rabobank, China, Labor, Wine Estates, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Australia, Britain, Europe, United States, Asia

Some opponents, however, argue the move would hand excessive powers to the Indigenous body, while others have described it as tokenism and toothless. A Guardian poll this week showed more Australians are planning to vote no in the referendum than yes, a first in the survey. Parties on both sides of a debate released official pamphlets last month, and are holding road shows about the upcoming vote. "I believe Australia is ready," he said in a radio interview on Wednesday, which marked World Indigenous Day. Albanese has said the referendum will be held between October and December, but has given no fixed date.

Persons: Albanese, Matt Qvortrup, Anthony Albanese, Warren Mundine, Dean Parkin, Qvortrup, Praveen Menon, Lincoln Organizations: SYDNEY, Guardian, ANU College of Law, West, Thomson Locations: Australia, Torres, West Australia

"I think most of the world is watching," Megan Davis, constitutional lawyer and Aboriginal woman who is leading the campaign for the change, told Reuters in an interview. A successful referendum will set a precedent that will be "really useful for other indigenous populations around the world in relation to recognition," Davis said. While a majority of Indigenous Australians back the change, support has been wavering at a national level, according to recent opinion polls. In the past there have been 44 proposals for constitutional change in 19 referendums, and only eight of these have passed. Pat Anderson, another Indigenous woman and campaign leader said this was the best political space Aboriginal Australians have been in since their struggle started over 200 years ago.

Persons: Megan Davis, Davis, Pat Anderson, Anderson, Stephen Coates Organizations: SYDNEY, Reuters, First Nations, Nations, UN, United, Indigenous Peoples, Australia's, Thomson Locations: Australia, Torres, Scandinavia, British, Australia's, Canada, New Zealand, United States

SYDNEY, June 19 (Reuters) - Australia's Senate passed legislation on Monday that paves the way for the country to hold a landmark referendum later this year on whether to recognise its Indigenous people in the constitution. Support for the constitutional change has been wavering in the recent weeks. Getting constitutional change is difficult in Australia. In the past there have been 44 proposals for constitutional change in 19 referendums, and only eight of these have passed. Independent Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe, who has also been a vocal opponent of the bill, said the change will only create a "powerless advisory body".

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Malarndirri McCarthy, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Lidia Thorpe, Praveen Menon, Michael Perry Organizations: SYDNEY, Australia's, Labor Party, Liberal Party, Independent, Thomson Locations: Torres, Australia's, Australia

The referendum, which comes amid a wider reckoning over race relations, proposes to change the constitution and establish an advisory body called the Indigenous Voice to Parliament to give Indigenous Australians a direct say in policies that affect them. Five of those polled were funding or planned to fund the "Yes" campaign, while none endorsed nor were contributing to "No". Commonwealth Bank told Reuters it plans to fund the "Yes" campaign and had hosted two panel discussions with Indigenous speakers. Rio Tinto, which faced criticism in 2020 for destroying Indigenous rock shelters, said the Voice would bring an "additional lens" to government decision-making. Aurora Milroy, a lecturer in Indigenous affairs at the University of Western Australia, said supporting the Voice was easy publicity for companies.

Persons: Rita Wright, Loren Elliott, Anthony Albanese, Intifar Chowdhury, Albanese, Meg O'Neill, Ross Piper, Baker McKenzie, Thomas Mayo, Kate Gillingham, Peter Dutton, Coles, Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Aurora Milroy, Byron Kaye, Praveen Menon, Melanie Burton, David Crawshaw, Devayani, Anant Chandak, Veronica Khongwir, Sujith Pai Organizations: Australian, REUTERS, Australia's, BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Labor, Voice, National, Nine Entertainment, Reuters, Commonwealth Bank, Ethical Investment, Qantas, Australian Financial, Liberal, Fair Australia, Miners, Fortescue Metals, University of Western, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Rio, Western Australia, Woodside, Queensland, University of Western Australia, Melbourne

In a full page statement published in The Sydney Morning Herald, Rugby Australia (RA) said the proposed referendum is "too important a contest to watch in silence". "Provision for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in our Constitution is long overdue," it added. RA and the AFL join the National Rugby league (NRL), several AFL clubs, and other sports governing bodies like soccer's Football Australia, Tennis Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee in formalising support for Indigenous recognition through a referendum. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has staked significant political capital on the referendum, has been keen to get the support of leading sports bodies and players. Some of Australia's top athletes are Indigenous, like NBA star Patty Mills, former Olympic sprinter Cathy Freeman and former woman's tennis world number one Ash Barty.

"The Albanese Government is delivering a transformational package of support to the Pacific, to respond to Pacific priorities and ensure our shared interests in a peaceful, prosperous and resilient region," the government said in a statement. Canberra has looked to build its defence capabilities amid concerns about rising global geopolitical tensions and China's growing influence among Pacific island nations. Defence spending as a proportion of GDP will lift above its current trajectory to be 0.2% higher by 2032-33, the budget showed. Over the next four years, the government will invest more than A$19 billion to implement the priorities identified in a defence strategic review released last month, the budget statement said. "Ultimately, defence spending will grow over the medium term, which is in line with the strategic circumstances," defence minister Richard Marles said in a statement.

Hudson will be one of the few female executives leading a major company in Australia, although rival carrier Virgin Australia also has a woman as its CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka. "I come with an understanding of this organization that is very deep," Hudson told reporters in her first news conference as CEO designate. "Vanessa has been market-facing as CFO since October 2019, which will have prepared her well for the very public role as Qantas CEO," RBC Capital Markets analyst Owen Birrell said in a note. Though men still account for far more top executive roles in Australian-listed companies, a growing number of high-profile CEO roles are occupied by women, including at the No. Qantas said Hudson would continue in her current role until taking over as Qantas' 13th CEO at the 2023 annual general meeting.

SYDNEY, May 2 (Reuters) - Australia's flagship carrier, Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX), said on Tuesday that long-serving CEO Alan Joyce would step aside in November, and named Vanessa Hudson as its next chief executive officer. * November 2008 - Irish-born Alan Joyce is appointed as Qantas chief executive. * April 2009 - Joyce cuts 1,750 jobs, the first major cull under his leadership, as the airline feels the full impact of the global financial crisis. * October 2016 - Joyce orchestrates a turnaround and delivers record profits and the first dividend to shareholders since 2009. * February 2023 - The airline swings to a record first-half profit on a strong demand recovery and high ticket prices.

SummarySummary Companies Hudson is the first female CEO to lead the airlineNew CEO to take over from Alan Joyce in NovemberMay 2 (Reuters) - Australia's flagship carrier, Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX), on Tuesday named its finance chief Vanessa Hudson as its new chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead the century-old airline. Hudson's appointment makes her one of the few female executives leading an airline, including Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka. "Vanessa has been market-facing as CFO since October 2019, which will have prepared her well for the very public role as Qantas CEO," RBC Capital Markets analyst Owen Birrell said in a note. SUCCESSION PLANSJoyce, 56, served as Qantas CEO for more than 14 years and helped navigate the airline through the COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuating fuel prices, and competition. Qantas said Hudson would continue in her current role until taking over as Qantas' 13th CEO at the 2023 annual general meeting.

SYDNEY, April 19 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday it would introduce new standards targeting vehicle emissions to boost the uptake of electric cars, as it looks to catch up with other developed economies. "Fuel-efficient and electric vehicles are cleaner and cheaper to run - today's announcement is a win-win for motorists," Bowen said in a statement. "Fuel efficiency standards would require more affordable electric vehicles to be sent to Australia," he said. Transport is the third largest source of carbon emissions in Australia - one of the world's biggest emitters on a per capita basis. Australia's centre-left Labor government last year flagged it had plans to introduce new regulations targeting vehicle carbon emissions to increase sales of electric cars.

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