The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau chief. Sign up to get it by email. ___ There was big news in Australia this week, with Cardinal George Pell’s second trial on sexual abuse charges failing to advance and the lifting of the suppression order in his case. Finally, we were able […]

Australia’s hottest summer on record is hitting its $4.4 billion wine industry hard, with grape yields set to drop to the lowest in years and hopes the heat could produce tastier tipples starting to shrivel like fruit on some of the nation’s vines. As harvesting gets into full swing, forecasts show winemakers are the latest […]

Cardinal George Pell’s child sexual abuse conviction has rocked the Catholic Church, where for years he has been one of its highest-ranked officials. It has had the same effect in Australia, Pell’s home nation, where his career began decades ago. The cleric made his name as a determined figure who championed traditional Catholic values and […]

A version of this article was published in print editions on Dec. 14, 2018, but not online, to comply with a suppression order imposed by a judge in Australia, where The Times has a bureau. On Tuesday, Feb. 26, in Australia, the suppression order was rescinded after a second trial was canceled. All the dates […]

SYDNEY, Australia — A billionaire businessman won a defamation case on Friday against a media organization that he claimed had wrongly linked him to a bribery case that implicated a former president of the United Nations General Assembly. The businessman, Chau Chak Wing, a well-connected political donor in Australia, was awarded 280,000 Australian dollars ($200,000) […]

Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, the highest-ranking woman to serve in the two-term government, has announced she is leaving politics. Ms Bishop had faced months of speculation about her future after losing an internal party ballot to become prime minister last August. The vote handed the job to Scott Morrison. The upheaval also ended […]

A prolonged drought in Australia is having a devastating impact on children and forcing them to “grow up” prematurely, a UN report warns. Large parts of eastern Australia have endured severe drought for months, crippling farming communities. Children in these areas are resilient but endure a growing psychological toll, said the UN’s children’s agency. Many […]

Farmers across eastern Australia are enduring what some have called the worst drought in living memory. On Wednesday, the entire state of New South Wales (NSW) was declared to be drought-affected. It is the same situation in more than half of neighbouring Queensland. Many farmers say they are struggling just to keep going, with little […]

An Australian yoga teacher whose ex-partner vanished with their three-year-old daughter after flying to Britain has appealed for help from anyone with links to “alternative communities”. Peter Uhd, 57, said he believes Victoria McKay, 43, and Ruby McKay-Uhd are living in a camper van. He said he is “desperate” and has urged anyone with information […]

The leader of Australia’s far-right One Nation party has worn a burka on the floor of the nation’s Senate. Pauline Hanson’s entrance drew audible shock from other senators ahead of a bid by her party to ban the garment in Australia. Government minister George Brandis condemned Ms Hanson’s stunt and “counselled and cautioned” her against […]