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Australia / New Zealand News

Livestock burp tax sticks in throats

20.06.2003
Auckland
By LIAM DANN primary industries editor
Farmers will be taxed on the flatulence of their livestock in a bid to reduce New Zealand's contribution to global warming. The levy could cost a typical family farmer up to $300 a year. Larger corporate farmers could pay up to $10,000. Sheep will be levied at 9c each and cows at up to 72c under the Government's proposals.

Read more at New Zealand Herald

And Jesus said to his people, 'You boofheads'

Tuesday, June 3, 2003
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters)
-- In the beginning was the word, and the word was "G'day!" That's how the New Testament might have begun if Jesus had been born Australian, according to an Australian author and broadcaster who has just completed a collection of favorite Bible stories retold in Australian English.

To some, Australian English is a screech of tortured vowels and suppressed consonants parodied by "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons."

But to Kel Richards, author of "The Aussie Bible (Well, bits of it anyway)," it is a rich vein of regional idioms and unique slang expressions.

Read more at CNN.com

Alston threat to 'anti-American' ABC

By Luke McIlveen
May 29, 2003

THREATENING budget cuts, the Howard Government has savagely attacked the ABC, accusing the national broadcaster of being blatantly biased and anti-American in its Iraq war coverage.

Communications Minister Richard Alston yesterday wrote to ABC managing director Russell Balding demanding he investigate more than 60 examples of claimed anti-American bias in reports on the national current affairs radio program AM.

"They (the ABC) are accountable to government in the same way any other organisation is, but if they choose to ignore it then it is a matter for the parliament," Senator Alston told The Australian.

Read more at The Australian

Macadamia Nuts Fuel Queensland Power Plant

Melbourne. May 22, 2003
REUTERS
A new renewable energy source has emerged in Australia with the development of the world's first power station to be fueled by waste macadamia-nut shells. Read more at alertnet.org.

Global Warming & Its Effects in Australia

May 9, 2003
REUTERS
Global warming may increase deaths and injuries due to flooding in Australia by as much as 240 percent by 2020, and cause a huge jump in the number of Pacific islanders whose homes could be washed away, a new report said. Read more at CNN.com

In Australia, Modern Aboriginal Art is a Hot Commodity

April 24, 2003
By TONY CLIFTON
Today's Aboriginal artists use modern paints and canvases but still refer to ancient symbols and images. These works are selling at high prices at auction. Read more at NY Times