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Major news in Australia in 2019, a month by month recap
Caroline Riches
THE BIG AUSTRALIAN NEWS EVENTS OF 2019
1 – WA retailers face fines of up to $5000 if they flout a ban on single-use plastic bags.
7 – A mass fish die-off of up to one million Murray cod and other native species at Menindee in western NSW sparks debate about the management of the Murray-Darling river system and drought.
16 – Arab-Israeli exchange student Aiia Maasarwe is killed on her way home from a comedy gig in Melbourne, a city still mourning murdered comedian Eurydice Dixon and angry at street attacks on women.
24 – Adelaide hits 46.6C and becomes Australia's hottest capital city on record.
26 – Divers Richard Harris and Craig Challen are named joint Australians of the Year for their part in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded Thai cave.
26 – Japan's Naomi Osaka wins the Australian Open and world No. 1 ranking. Novak Djokovic claims a record seventh Australian Open men's singles title the next day.
27 – Ocean Alley takes out triple j's Hottest 100 countdown with its song Confidence.
30 – Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani wins Australia's most valuable literary award – the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature – for his novel No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison.
4 – The banking royal commission's damning final report is released, with 76 recommendations aimed at overhauling the financial services sector.
11- The royal commission into aged care begins public hearings, noting more than 3700 assaults in Australian nursing homes in the past financial year.
20 – Former foreign minister Julie Bishop announces her retirement from parliament at the upcoming election.
2- Pop princess Kylie Minogue dazzles a crowd of more than 300,000 at Sydney's 41st Mardi Gras parade.
13 – Cardinal George Pell is sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted over the sexual abuse of two choirboys in the 1990s.
15 – Attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, leave 51 people dead. Alleged gunman, Australian Brenton Tarrant, later pleads not guilty to all murder charges.
17 – William Connolly, 17, smashes an egg on the head of Senator Fraser Anning over his anti-Muslim immigration rhetoric following the Christchurch attacks – and "egg boy" becomes an overnight sensation around the world.
23 – NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian claims victory in the NSW election, becoming the state's first woman to be elected premier.
24 – Destructive Cyclone Trevor makes landfall near the Northern Territory-Queensland border, but more than 2000 people have already fled their homes and no lives are lost.
24 – Unusually powerful and slow-moving Cyclone Veronica hits the WA coast, causing widespread flooding and thousands of cattle deaths.
27 – A British man wanted in WA over drug-related offences is arrested in the Torres Strait after allegedly trying to flee the country on a jetski bound for Papua New Guinea.
31 – The Adelaide Crows beat Carlton to claim their second AFLW Premiership.
2 – Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announces the federal Budget is back in surplus and says the government didn't raise taxes to do it.
4 – Kimberly-Clark Australia announces it's closing its Sydney factory, which makes Huggies nappies, with up to 220 jobs lost as production moves to Asia.
9 – Las Vegas casino empire Wynn pulls out of a $10 billion merger with Crown Resorts after James Packer's company spilled the beans ahead of time.
11 – Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush wins his defamation case against the publisher of The Daily Telegraph over articles alleging he acted inappropriately towards a female co-star during a Sydney theatre production of King Lear.
26 – Melbourne Zoo's adventurous orangutan Malu makes another daring bid for freedom, briefly escaping his enclosure and forcing the zoo into lockdown.
16 – Former prime minister Bob Hawke, who won four elections for Labor, dies at his Sydney home at the age of 89.
18 – Scott Morrison defies opinion polls to lead the federal coalition to a stunning election victory; a shocked opposition mourns Labor legend Hawke.
20 – The final episode in the final season of Game of Thrones smashes viewing records around the world but many fans are outraged by "cliched" storytelling.
30 – Anthony Albanese replaces Bill Shorten as federal Labor leader.
4 – Four people are shot dead by a gunman in the Darwin CBD. Local man Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann, 45, is later charged with murder.
5 – Police raid the ABC's Sydney headquarters and the home of a News Corp journalist, drawing fire from unions, media organisations and rights groups who claim they're attacks on press freedom and public interest reporting.
8 – Ash Barty wins the French Open, the young Queenslander's first grand slam title.
13 – PNG authorities demand the Australian government act on an unprecedented mental health crisis on Manus Island, with reports 50 men have self-harmed in recent weeks.
13 – Adani passes its final environmental approval and can now begin work on its Carmichael mine in Central Queensland after nearly nine years of planning, fierce protests and endless political debate.
22 – Australia applauds as Barty becomes world No. 1 during a Wimbledon lead-up tournament.
30 – Comedian and TV and radio host Tom Gleeson takes out the Gold Logie Award after spending weeks trashing his fellow nominees.
1 – David Hurley is sworn in as the 27th Governor General of Australia.
7 – A 33-year-old man is arrested and charged after scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge in heavy fog, apparently to protest against the government of Iran.
3 – Former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne is committed to stand trial on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a woman in the NSW Hunter region.
5 – Bernard Tomic is fined his first-round prize money of more than $80,000 by Wimbledon officials who claim the Australian didn't play up to the "required professional standards".
27 – Rising swimming star Shayna Jack tests positive to a banned substance, forcing the 20-year-old to withdraw from the national squad. Jack maintains her innocence.
30 – Brisbane-based Melissa Lucashenko wins the Miles Franklin Literary Award for Too Much Lip. She is the third indigenous Australian writer to win the prize.
4 – Kerry Robertson, 61, becomes the first Victorian to use the state's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act, her two daughters saying their mother's death was "beautiful and peaceful".
8 – A bill to decriminalise abortion passes the NSW Lower House after heated and lengthy debate. It passes the Upper House on September 25.
17 – The chairman of Macquarie Media says Alan Jones will be fired if he makes any comments similar to those he directed at Jacinda Ardern this week, when he said Scott Morrison should "shove a sock" down the New Zealand prime minister's throat.
26 – An attempt to deport Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers Kokilapathmapriya Nadesalingham (Priya) and Nadesalingam Murugappan (Nades) is thwarted by a last-minute injunction, forcing the plane carrying the couple and their children out of Australia to land in Darwin. The family is taken to Christmas Island detention centre, where they await a final hearing.
28 – The NSW government announces a $10 million initiative to combat what Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall describes as a looming "Fish Armageddon".
29 – Prime Minister Scott Morrison hits out at a gender-inclusive toilet sign on display in his department, describing it as "political correctness", "not necessary" and "over the top".
5 – Notorious paedophile Michael Guider, who killed schoolgirl Samantha Knight decades ago, walks free from a Sydney prison.
8 – Australia retains The Ashes for the first time on English soil since 2001 with a thrilling win in the fourth Test.
12 – Five years to the day since William Tyrrell, then three years old, disappeared from Kendall, NSW, police say they're "continuing to explore lines of inquiry and persons of interest".
19 – Mother of missing Beaumont children, Nancy Beaumont, dies aged 92, having never known what happened to her three children, who disappeared from an Adelaide beach in the 1960s.
20 – Thousands of young Australians walk out of classrooms to demand action on climate change alongside thousands more adults and business leaders, part of worldwide rallies inspired by young Swedish activist Greta Thonberg.
21 – Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny are greeted at the White House by US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
25 – An Australian Bureau of Statistics report reveals heart disease is the number one cause of death among Australians and killed about 48 people every day in 2018.
28 – Richmond thrash GWS by 89 points to win their 12th AFL premiership and their second in three seasons.
1 – Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe cuts the cash rate to a record 0.75% and says he's prepared to ease again if needed to support growth.
6 – The Sydney Roosters win the 2019 NRL grand final after a 14-8 victory over the Canberra Raiders.
22 – An Adelaide man dies after falling more than 10 metres from a zipline in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland. His wife is seriously injured.
26 – Climbing Uluru is now banned, ending a rush by tourists to climb the red rock before the deadline.
27 – Australian serial killer Ivan Milat, convicted of murdering foreign and Australian backpackers between 1989 and 1993, dies in custody.
29 – Codey Herrmann, the man who raped and murdered international student Aiia Maasarwe in Melbourne, is jailed for at least 30 years.
5 – Australians celebrate another Melbourne Cup, but this year it's tainted by an ABC probe revealing multiple instances of animal cruelty and hundreds of registered racehorses being discarded at slaughterhouses across Australia.
8 – Renewable energy – mostly solar and wind – supplies more than half of Australia's national grid for the first time for a brief, 10-minute period.
10 – NSW's premier declares a seven-day state of emergency ahead of catastrophic fire warnings as deadly bushfires continue to burn in NSW and Queensland.
12 – Disgraced Cardinal George Pell gets one final chance to fight his child sex convictions, with a full bench of the High Court expected to hear appeal arguments early in 2020.
21 – An online fundraising appeal set up by a NSW koala hospital to rescue and rehabilitate marsupials devastated by bushfires raises more than $1 million.
25 – Accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards goes on trial in WA's Supreme Court, charged with the murders of three women in 1996 and 1997.
27 – Victorian singer-songwriter Tones and I sweeps the floor at the Arias, cementing her status as breakout artist of the year.
4 – Sam Neill is honoured for his illustrious career with the highest accolade at the AACTA Awards. The Nightingale takes out best film category.
9 – Australian tourists off a cruise ship are among 47 people on New Zealand's volcanic White Island when it erupts. Just over a week later, 16 Australians are confirmed dead and 12 are in Australian hospitals with burns.
10 – WA becomes the second state after Victoria to legalise voluntary assisted dying, to applause from the floor of parliament and the public gallery.
10 – Smoke from bushfires is so thick across parts of the Sydney basin that air pollution is deemed 11 times worse than the "hazardous" level.
Categories: Business, Lifestyle, Travel
ASX ends up as early guidance arrives: Wednesday 13 Jan
Industry rails against opt-in superannuation model
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Laozi Riding a Water Buffalo by Fan Zeng . Laozi (Lao Tzu) is riding a buffalo into the West, carrying the Dao-de-jing (Tao Te Ching).
The animal symbol of Swa-tika is the Male Buffalo.
"Arcturus, the wonderful, the beautiful! As the bright and glorious light"
"And Arcturus! For the entity has gone out and returned purposefully."
The enormous star Arcturus is said to form a gateway passage through which souls "go out and return purposefully" in their cycle of incarnations. The present self-going and self-knowing Wanderer class are considered to have passed through Arcturus.
It is said to be a wonderful environment. At the third dimensional physics level, Arcturus can be perceived astronomically as the brightest and eldest star in the ga-lakia-kyklos * Milky-Way [lakt = milk].
Arkturos resides in the constellation of Bootes the Herdsman. Psychically Arcturus is considered a funnel of attunement which serves as a collecting station for immigration and preparation clinic for the next assignment. In Cymric lore, Arcturus is associated with the ethereal apple-blossom realm of Avalon and the figure of Arthur (Arctur).
"The Wind desired, "May I win the freedom to move as I wish in all the worlds."
gains the freedom to move as he wishes in all the worlds.
The Wind, Vayu, has free movement in all the worlds.
Those born in Vayu' s Nakshatra of Swati have a similar desire.
They don' t like to be held or tied down.
They like to travel where they want and when they want ."
The symbol for Swati is a single blade of grass blowing in the wind, reflecting the independent and autonomous nature of this asterism. It has a chara or moveable nature and is ruled by restless Rahu, the North Node of the Moon.
A love of educational travel and the need for positive change is often experienced here. The primary deity is Vayu, the God of the Wind and Prana. The shakti is the power to scatter like the wind". Other symbols for this lunar mansion are a sword (discrimination) and a priest or priestess.
Swati is of deva temperament with a primary motivation of artha or attainment of wealth. Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning is the female deity associated with Swati. This is a very intellectual nakshatra that demonstrates excellent communication skills. It has the capacity to achieve justice (Libra) thru personal power.
Swati is located by the bright star, Arcturus, in the constellation of Bootis."
Swatika lagna and Swati Chandra = somewhat peculiar in personal behavior. Naturally they carry the intelligence of Arcturus their home star and thus they may rise into wisdom roles.
They usually promote significant adjustments to the existing contract system, rather than revolutionary change.
Swatika are generally admired for their justice-seeking intensity of purpose. Yet they may be unwise in personal behavior.
Swati folk present a conundrum. Often enamored of the momentary pleasures of wine, women, and song. Yet passionate about cultivation of relationships and looking assiduously for the balance point that marks the ever-swinging fulcrum between inner self and outer self.
Like A-rudra and Shata-taraka, the Swa-tika folk = more complexly involved in taboo-breaking activities (Rahu) than their attractive surface appearance might immediately reveal.
Swatika can be stand-off-ish and seem uncertain of their role. Yet can jump into the situation with unpredictable spring-forward motion (Rahu) to claim the object of desire.
What seems like pride is really uncertainty regarding one's proper social station. Wanting to maintain the highest available level of socially harmonious relationships (Zukra) yet at the same time self-identifying as some variety of pretender or poseur (Rahu), Swatika-born despite pleasant appearance seems to not quite fit in.
Swati natives are nearly always attractive with balanced features; but there is also something out of balance in the appearance.
may seem restless for higher privilege despite many material advantages in life.
Craving for something or someone that beckons with the promise of higher privilege. The craving for this object of desire disturbs Swati's inner balance.
No matter the amount of personal discipline, numbing drugs, or logical argument, this Rahu-craving persists.
For an orphaned child, Swati's perpetual dissatisfaction may arise from the endless craving for mother who is deceased.
For a married woman, perhaps her great love is not her contractual partner. She may remain faithful to the union, yet the craving for her lover fills her dream-space, day and night.
For a champion fisherman, Swati could indicate a subconscious arrhythmic obsession with the One that Got Away.
It is a challenge for the Swati native to set one's life into a permanently harmonious swing. Rahu interrupts the balance.
The odd gait is subtle and usually physical, typically the swinging too far on one side, or even limping from congenital conditions, injury or accident. But there can be other bodily expressions of the odd cadence, since the origin is some irregularity of the spine which puts pressure on the internal organs particularly the heart.
Swati is weaker than appearances might reveal; the endless stress of irregular desires can erode the vitality. One may suddenly collapse in complete exhaustion. However the pendulum will usually swing back into a period of vitality after some refreshment.
For Swatika births of a feminine valence, the disposition of mesmerizing, hypnotic, shadowy, exciting, passionate, ambitious, opportunistic, privilege-seeking Professor Rahu may considerably affect the outcome.
Exotics, ethnic mixers, opportunists, fascinators, mesmerizers, privilege-seekers, impostors, rogues, agents of passion and desire, self-proclaimers, self-promoters, charlatans, masters of smoke and oils, and entrancingly ambitious persons may be especially influential. Guided by the instructing intelligences of Arcturus. Their purpose is to broker agreements and balance the interests of multiple ambitious stakeholders.
Rahu-ruled Swatika ladies tend to be fascinating figures. By skillfully mixing and trading with different folks, Swatika ladies build exotic new exchange relationships. They are often found in policy organizations and government agencies, where their social equity work is distinctively multi-cultural. Their roles include trader, exchanger, negotiator, deal-maker, broker, marriage-matcher, alliance-designer, and other balancing activities that engage two mismatched sides within one functional agreement.
Swatika represents Rahu's desire to amplify Zukra's quest for harmony. Rahu combines unusual people and agendas to generate a previously unthinkable opportunity for trade-deals and bargaining in commodities, ideas, or services.
In politics, Swatika ladies may be associated with social, economic, or political integration of previously hostile or excluded participants. Vayu-born graciously mix people and environments that were once segregated, making successful pairings between ethnicities, religions, nations, or individuals of differing practice.
Their pursuit of a social justice agenda is not entirely idealistic. It is ultimately motivated by their desire to obtain privilege by facilitating partnership, trade and exchange.
"This woman has a truthful honest straightforward character.
She can be identified by her speech and by her manner of walking.
at least deliberate and purposeful.
and she will be very devoted to her husband."
For Swatika births of a masculine valence, the disposition of mesmerizing, hypnotic, shadowy, exciting, passionate, ambitious, opportunistic, privilege-seeking Professor Rahu may considerably affect the outcome.
and his conclusion more accurate than others who may be more brilliant.
or at any rate participate in some religious activity.
Many priests or ministers are found to have Swati on the Rising Point."
the under part of the feet will appear to be curved and the ankle risen.
You will have an attractive appearance.
You are a peace loving person, but adamant and independent.
You may be uneasy with criticism of your work.
You may have trouble controlling your temper once you lose it.
A proper balance of mind will result in a more positive life.
You are willing to extend a helping hand to others provided your own freedom is not questioned.
You are the best friend in need and worst enemy of the hated.
You do not hesitate to take revenge on the persons who are against you.
You may experience difficult times in childhood.
Your intelligence and capacity to do the work are excellent.
You may suffer, financially and mentally, even if born in a wealthy family, until your 25th year.
However, you may not experience much progress in profession or business up to the age of 30 years.
Thereafter you will have a golden period up to your 60th year.
You may earn through the profession of gold smith, traveler or pharmacist.
Your married life may not be so congenial.
to outsiders it may seem that you are the most adjustable couple, but in reality you are not.
You will have very good health.
You may suffer from common human diseases."
"you are intelligent and fond of religious worship.
There may be some trouble with organs.
You serve your parents and teachers with utmost care."
QUOTATION for the Male only * by Shil-Ponde. (1939). Hindu Astrology Joytisha-Shastra .p 110.
"Height is usually between 5'9" and 5'11".
may become a monk, priest, or philosopher.
May trade in food stuffs, and prefers to give food instead of money for charitable purposes ."
"You are tall, have a long nose, and weak organs.
You are grateful to the persons who help you.
You enjoy respect from your family members.
However, you may be ruined by those same family members."
QUOTATION for the Male only; * by Shil-Ponde. (1939). Hindu Astrology Joytisha-Shastra . p 110.
and prefers to give food instead of money for charitable purposes ."
"You will be clever in business.
You are rich and earn by frequent travel.
You will enjoy a very high reputation through good deeds.
You may live away from your family."
QUOTATION Description of the Four Pada ( quarters ) of Swatika * for the Male only; by Shil-Ponde. (1939). Hindu Astrology Joytisha-Shastra. p 110.
and prefers to give food instead of money for charitable purposes."
"You may be rejected by your relatives, even though you have been a help to them.
You will have a weak constitution."
QUOTATION * Description of the Four Pada = quarters = of Swatika * for the Male only; by Shil-Ponde. (1939). Hindu Astrology Joytisha-Shastra. p 110.