Australia Government

Australia, long perceived as an economic outback of cowboys and koala bears, is aiming to transform itself into a manufacturing power and regional gateway to Southeast Asia. While tourist pitchman Paul Hogan promotes Aussie sun and shrimps, government officials have launched decidedly different efforts to lure foreign capital and technology by trumpeting the nation's English speakers, Western culture, skilled work force and highly developed infrastructure.

China formally arrested four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of laying politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has strained ties with key trading partner Australia. Investigations showed the four, including Stern Hu, an Australian citizen who headed Rio Tinto's iron ore business in China, obtained commercial secrets about China's steel and iron industries through "improper means" and were involved in bribery, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

Overcoming resistance to a controversial tax reform plan, the conservative coalition government headed by Prime Minister John Howard won reelection by a narrow margin Saturday, according to incomplete reports on Australian federal elections.

More than 430 refugees who were refused asylum in Australia departed today for Papua New Guinea aboard an Australian troop ship, ending a weeklong international standoff over their fate. The refugees, who were rescued at sea nine days ago by a Norwegian cargo vessel, were transferred Monday to the troop ship Manoora and set off this morning on the six- to 10-day journey to Papua New Guinea.

Japan and New Zealand joined Australia in breaking with the U.S. and Britain by rejecting a boycott of the swearing-in of Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed legislature during July 1 hand-over ceremonies. "I know there is an issue over whether we should go to this or not. But I think we must go," Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto said in Tokyo.

Prime Minister Paul Keating, unveiling his blueprint for a republic, said Wednesday that Australia must ditch Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as head of state before it can truly be independent. "It is the government's view that Australia's head of state should be an Australian and that Australia should become a republic by the year 2001," Keating told Parliament. Keating said Australians would decide by referendum in 1998 or 1999 whether to dump the monarch in favor of a nonpolitical president.

Stake in Qantas to Be Sold: The government will sell its 75% stake in the national airline through a public stock flotation in the first half of next year, Finance Minister Kim Beazley said. The float, expected to raise about $1.5 billion, was first announced in June, 1992, and was originally scheduled for the fiscal year ended last month. But Qantas Airways' weak performance and a lackluster aviation market forced the government last year to reschedule the sale for 1994-95.

More than 10 million Australians are expected to vote today in a volatile national election that may see a conservative coalition overthrow Prime Minister Bob Hawke's seven-year-old Labor government. Polls this week showed the race closing to a virtual dead heat between Hawke, running for his fourth term as prime minister, and Andrew Peacock, leader of the Liberal-National opposition coalition.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke won a third consecutive term in office Saturday as Australian voters rejected offers of tax cuts from the conservative opposition in favor of the governing Labor Party's pledge to restructure an ailing national economy. Hawke, 57, former leader of the Australian trade union movement, bested the Liberal Party, led by John Howard.

Thousands of dignitaries gathered Wednesday to commemorate the first sitting of Australia's Federal Parliament 100 years ago--the high point in a year of festivities that has seen the country's political roots come under fire. Australia's political, cultural and business leaders listened to bands and patriotic speeches in Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building to honor the launch of the legislature in the same vast hall exactly a century earlier.

Australians awoke today to the realization that their largely pro-republican country had voted decisively to retain the British monarch as head of state for the foreseeable future. With four-fifths of the vote counted, tallies in the country's Saturday referendum showed that 55% had voted to retain Queen Elizabeth II as head of state rather than allow the political elite to appoint a home-grown president.

The Australian Parliament recognized 200 years of injustice to the country's indigenous people Thursday, saying it regretted "the most blemished chapter" in the nation's history. The historic motion came the same day that an Aboriginal woman taken from her mother at birth lost a legal battle considered crucial for Australia's so-called "stolen generations."

The Australian government said a further 16.6% of Telstra Corp., the nation's top-ranked telecommunications company, will go on sale in mid-to-late October, raising an estimated $10 billion. "This sale will be the largest share offer in Australia's history and one of the largest offerings of its kind in the world this year," Finance Minister John Fahey said. After the sale the government will continue to hold about 51% of Telstra. A maximum of 2.

Overcoming resistance to a controversial tax reform plan, the conservative coalition government headed by Prime Minister John Howard won reelection by a narrow margin Saturday, according to incomplete reports on Australian federal elections.

Vegemite is a salty, black yeast paste that millions of Australians religiously spread on their breakfast toast. The sticky substance, approached warily by those who do not live here, also is a kind of national symbol, or "icon" as the Australians call it, that helps define this island continent. For nearly half a century, Australians have been comforted by a bouncy radio-television commercial jingle, "Happy Little Vegemites," that serves as a unifying national ditty.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke called a general election for March 24, saying he will stand for a record fifth term in the vote, which is expected to focus on economic issues. Hawke's ruling Labor Party holds a majority of 83 seats in the 148-seat House of Representatives, 18 more than the conservative Liberal-Country Party coalition. Half of the Senate's 76 seats will also be contested if Governor General Bill Hayden accepts Hawke's March 24 proposal.

In September, 1989, Du Pont Co. executive Richard Warburton was chatting with a government official in Sydney during a meeting of the Australian Manufacturing Council. He casually mentioned that Du Pont could probably operate a particular Australian-owned textile factory without the $35-million annual public subsidy it needed to stay afloat. The official's eyes lit up. "You really mean that?" he told Warburton, chairman of Du Pont Australia-Du Pont New Zealand Ltd.

Japan and New Zealand joined Australia in breaking with the U.S. and Britain by rejecting a boycott of the swearing-in of Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed legislature during July 1 hand-over ceremonies. "I know there is an issue over whether we should go to this or not. But I think we must go," Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto said in Tokyo.

Prime Minister Paul Keating, unveiling his blueprint for a republic, said Wednesday that Australia must ditch Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as head of state before it can truly be independent. "It is the government's view that Australia's head of state should be an Australian and that Australia should become a republic by the year 2001," Keating told Parliament. Keating said Australians would decide by referendum in 1998 or 1999 whether to dump the monarch in favor of a nonpolitical president.