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Australia to get new PM after Abbott loses challenge

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Tony Abbott to step aside as prime minister after losing leadership challenge to Malcolm Turnbull.

Tony Abbott

by Al Jazeera

Australia is to get a new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, after embattled leader Tony Abbott lost a challenge for the leadership of the Liberal Party, the senior partner in the ruling conservative coalition.

The former communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is to become Australia’s 29th prime minister after defeating Abbott in party room spill with 54 votes to 44.

Turnbull is expected to be sworn in as prime minister by Australia’s governor-general Peter Cosgrove on Tuesday.

Turnbull on Monday said he informed Abbott he would challenge him for the leadership after losing confidence in his management of the economy.

“The prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs. He has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.

Volatile

The leadership vote continues an extraordinarily volatile period in Australian federal politics, especially as the Liberals were elected in 2013 as a stable alternative to the then Labor government.

Labor came to power under Kevin Rudd at the 2007 elections, only to dump him in the face of poor opinion polling for his deputy Julia Gillard in 2010, months ahead of elections.

The bitterly divided and chaotic government then dumped Gillard for Rudd just months before the 2013 election.

Before Rudd was elected in 2007, John Howard was in power for almost 12 years.

The government has trailed the opposition in a range of opinion polls since April last year.

Australia to strike ISIL in Syria and take refugees

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Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia will target armed group within days, and accept 12,000 Syrians and Iraqis.

Abbott reversed on comments made on Sunday, when he said Australia was not planning to boost the overall intake of refugees [EPA]

Abbott reversed on comments made on Sunday, when he said Australia was not planning to boost the overall intake of refugees [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Australia has announced it will launch air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group targets in Syria within days and resettle an additional 12,000 refugees from the deepening humanitarian and security crisis in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott also announced Wednesday that his government will pay an additional $31m to support 240,000 Syrians and Iraqis in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

On Sunday, Abbott said Australia would allocate more spaces in its 13,750 annual intake quota to those fleeing violence in Syria, but did not plan to boost the overall intake, sparking criticism from across the political spectrum.

The opposition Labor Party was among the critics, calling for an additional 10,000 refugees to be resettled from Syria.

After Abbott announced an even higher figure on Wednesday, opposition leader Bill Shorten said that the plan had bipartisan support.

The Australian government will give preference to women, children and families from persecuted minorities from Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, Abbott said.

The prime minister also announced that Australia’s involvement in strikes against ISIL, which already take place in Iraq, could extend to Syria within days.

“Destroying this death cult is essential, not just to ending the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East but also to ending the threat to Australia and the wider world,” Abbott said.

The government said the legal basis for extending air operations into Syria was the collective self-defence of Iraq as the armed group did not respect national borders.

“We are exercising the right to collective self-defence under Article 51 of the UN charter in striking Daesh [ISIL] in Syria,” Abbott said, adding that the focus of the campaign would be on ISIL, and not the Assad government.

“We have no legal basis at this point in time for wider strikes in Syria and we don’t intend to make wider strikes in Syria,” he said.

India, Australia ink five agreements

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india_australia_deal

Canberra: India and Australia Tuesday signed five agreements, including on exchange of sentenced prisoners and on tourism, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott held bilateral talks here.

The agreements are on social security, to “strengthen people-to-people contacts and facilitate and regulate the regulations between the two countries with respect to social security benefits and coverage”.

“It will provide for social security and superannuation benefits for those who have been residents of the other country on basis of equality of benefit, export of benefits and avoidance of double coverage.” an official statement said.

“It will lead to greater economies and promote the flow of professionals,” the statement said.

The agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners is to “enhance cooperative efforts in law enforcement and administration of justice and to cooperate in the enforcement of penal sentences”.

“It will facilitate, regulate and lay down procedures for the transfer of sentenced persons and enable rehabilitation and reintegration of sentenced persons into society,” the statement said.

The MoU on Combating Narcotics Trafficking and Developing Police Cooperation, is to “address concerns regarding illicit trafficking and drug abuse”.

The fourth agreement is on Cooperation in the Field of Arts and Culture, and “will promote cooperation through exchange of information, professional expertise, training and exhibitions in the field of culture”.

The fifth agreement is in the field of tourism, to encourage “interaction between tourism stakeholders, training and investments in hospitality sector and promote the importance of the tourism sector in economic development and employment generation”, the statement added.

(IANS)

India and Australia agree to collaborate on rejuvenating Ganga

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A devotee taking a dip in the polluted waters of river Ganga in Allahabad. Photo: The Hindu

A devotee taking a dip in the polluted waters of river Ganga in Allahabad. Photo: The Hindu

Canberra/ANI: India and Australia on Tuesday announced plans to collaborate on rejuvenating the River Ganga during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

In a joint statement issued during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia, both sides welcomed the two-way exchanges and cooperation in river basin planning under the water partnership, and a new program of joint research on agricultural water management.

Both sides also welcomed co-operation between Australian and Indian universities, and in particular, the joint PhD programmes to encourage research.

During his visit here, Prime Minister Modi renewed his invitation to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to visit India again at his convenience. They also agreed that high-level visits played a key role in enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Prime Minister Modi kickstarted his day’s engagements with a visit to the War Memorial here, where he paid his tributes to those Australians who had died at war while serving their country.

He was also accompanied by his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott, where he laid a wreath in the Hall of Memory . Prime Minister Modi observed few minutes of silence at the memorial as a mark of respect and signed the visitor’s book here before he left.

Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a warm ceremonial reception here at the forecourt of the Australian Parliament and offered a gun salute.

He also inspected a guard of honour during his visit here.

During his opening statement at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Prime Minister Modi said that both nations were seeking early closure to a civil nuclear agreement that will give Australia a chance to participate in one of the world’s most safe and secure nuclear energy programmes. Besides, the two nations also decided to sign five pacts on several areas.

While addressing the joint session of the Australian Parliament, he placed Australia at the centre of India’s vision of a prosperous and regional order, at the juncture of the Indian and Pacific oceans, at a time when security and maritime navigation were valued more highly than ever before.

After addressing the Australian Parliament here, Prime Minister Modi has arrived in Melbourne where he is scheduled to address expatriate Indians at the the 161-year-old Melbourne Cricket Ground and attend two other events hosted by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, before departing for Fiji for the third leg of his three-nation, 10-day trip.

(ANI)

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