SYDNEY - Australia is the world’s happiest nation based on criteria including income, jobs, housing, and health, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said....
Australia was the only major developed nation to avoid the 2009 worldwide recession, and the government is aiming to return its budget to surplus in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
That's a lie because Israel also avoided it. Not only did they avoid it, but it remained unmentioned by my Zionist prism I call a paper.
A mining investment boom has spurred hiring and driven the unemployment rate below 5 percent, even as an elevated currency hurts manufacturing and tourism....
See: Around Asia: In a Land Down Under
Australia is also one of the world’s safest trade and foreign investment destinations....
Meaning their citizens will cover any losses and toss tax loot at you courtesy of the government.
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Related: Stoned Down Under
Oh, I THINK THAT has more to do with them being happy (smile).
Either that or the booze.
"Australia set to create huge marine reserves; Area will include 1.2m square miles" by Matt Siegel | New York Times, June 15, 2012
SYDNEY - Australia plans to create the world’s largest network of marine reserves, encompassing a 1.2 million square mile patchwork of coastal waters, the government announced Thursday. The move is aimed at balancing protection for the country’s delicate reefs and marine life, which are facing growing environmental pressures, with the demands of its booming resource-driven economy....
The plan drew mixed reviews from environmental groups, which, while broadly supportive of the overall goal of sheltering delicate marine ecosystems from exploitation, complained that it did not go far enough to safeguard areas that are rich in oil and natural gas reserves or under pressure from industrial fishing....
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"Military minors abused in Australia; Report says crimes date back to 1950s" by Matt Siegel | new york times, June 16, 2012
SYDNEY - Newly released documents detail numerous cases of physical and sexual abuse of minors in Australia’s armed forces dating back to the 1950s, prompting Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday to raise the possibility of a high-level public inquiry.
First the priests, then the scoutmasters, and now this!
The cases are described in a confidential report commissioned by the Australian military last year and made public late Thursday by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Highly redacted extracts from the report had been released three months ago by Defense Minister Stephen Smith. What the broadcaster obtained, through a Freedom of Information request, was the full executive summary of the report.
It contains the findings of an investigation, conducted
by the law firm DLA Piper under a commission from the Australian Defense
Force, into hundreds of accounts of sexual abuse across the military,
including cases of rape against male recruits as young as 13 years old.
It describes a culture in which victims were discouraged from reporting
abuse and abusers were not held accountable and raises the possibility
that some pedophiles might have joined the military to gain access to
boys.
Just the kind of people we want winning hearts and minds in faraway places.
Just the kind of people we want winning hearts and minds in faraway places.
The release of the document sent the government into crisis mode Friday, as it sought to address what may prove to be the most damaging in a string of embarrassing accusations of misconduct that have tarnished the reputation of the country’s armed forces, which are fighting alongside NATO troops in Afghanistan. Gillard said the findings were “deeply distressing.’’
Who cares about the IMAGE of the ARMY?
Some POOR KIDS WERE TRAUMATIZED by RAPE!!!
The report was commissioned after an episode last year in which a male cadet at the elite Australian Defense Force Academy was caught streaming video of himself having sex with a female cadet to his friends via Skype without her knowledge....
That sounds like bullying, doesn't it?
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FLASHBACK:
"Memos detail Australia forces’ misconduct" January 14, 2012
SYDNEY - Australia’s scandal-plagued armed forces were dealing with fallout yesterday from another round of embarrassing revelations over the behavior of some of their personnel, after a television network released a trove of internal military memos describing incidents of sexual assault, possession of child pornography, and drug use, among other misconduct.
The release of the documents Thursday by the Channel Seven News network, which obtained them through a freedom of information request, comes on the heels of other scandals involving the Australian Defense Force....
Their release put Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government and the military leadership on the defensive and drew considerable attention from the news media yesterday....
The newly released documents are internal memos called “Hot Issue Briefs,’’ and apparently intended to document incidents of misconduct and offer guidance to officers on handling them, including from a public relations perspective.
Among the hundreds of pages of material, the navy stands out for the sheer volume of incidents, many of them involving heavy drinking, violence, and sexually aggressive behavior.
Maybe they should smoke a joint.
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Not really a surprise, is it?
