Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Source Says Macquarie in Talks to Acquire Fox-Pitt Kelton
Aug 21 2009 // Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd. is in talks to acquire Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, a small investment bank owned by its management and private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co LLC, a person familiar...
Report Finds Australia’s Wildfire Warning System ‘Dangerously Flawed’
Aug 20 2009 // A major inquiry into Australia’s wildfire disaster earlier this year has found that warning systems are dangerously flawed, and residents in vulnerable areas need better, faster information to escape quick-moving...
Asia-Pacific Nations Decry First-world Protectionist Policies
Jul 21 2009 // Some Asia-Pacific nations criticized U.S. and other developed world protectionism on Tuesday at a meeting aimed at spurring a global trade pact and revitalizing the global economy. Thai Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai,...
El Nino Weather Pattern Increasing Says Australian Weather Bureau
Jul 8 2009 // The development of an El Nino weather pattern is increasing and at this stage may be a medium-strength event, but it could take months for it to be officially declared, Australia’s weather bureau said. “We are...
IAG Receives Around 4,000 Storm Claims
Jun 2 2009 // Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) has confirmed that it currently expects to pay between A$25 million and A$35 million (US$20.2 to $28.3 million) to customers affected by the recent storms in south-east Queensland...
Australian Navy Warships Thwart Pirate Attack off Yemen
May 19 2009 // The Australian navy thwarted an attack by pirates on two merchant ships in the dangerous waters off Yemen, Australian defense officials said Monday. Crew members aboard the MV Dubai Princess raised distress signals Sunday...
Australian Broker Association Opposes High Insurance Premium Taxes
May 14 2009 // The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) has issued a “Discussion Paper,” outlining the reasons for its opposition to the high taxes imposed on insurance transactions in Australia. The NIBA is the...
Global Warming to Blame for 37% of Droughts Says Australian Scientist
Mar 26 2009 // Global warming is more than a third to blame for a major drop in rainfall that includes a decade-long drought in Australia and a lengthy dry spell in the United States, a scientist said on Wednesday. Peter Baines of...
El Nino Study Challenges Global Warming Intensity Link
Mar 24 2009 // Research showing an El Nino event in 1918 was far stronger than previously thought is challenging the notion that climate change is making El Nino episodes more intense, a U.S. scientist said on Tuesday. El Nino causes...
Younger Drivers Distracted by Music Says Australian Insurer NRMA
Mar 23 2009 // According to a study from Australian insurer NRMA, part of the Insurance Australia Group (IAG), younger drivers, who listen to music while at the wheel, are acting dangerously. NRMA said its research “revealed almost...
Half of Oil-slicked Australian Beaches Now Clean
Mar 16 2009 // About half of the white sand beaches along Australia’s northeast coast that were blackened by an oil spill have been cleared, an official said Sunday. Authorities declared a disaster zone along 37 miles (60...
Australia Bushfies ‘a Climate Change Wake-up Call’ Say Experts
Feb 10 2009 // Weekend bushfires in Australia that killed 173 people are a climate change wake-up call for the public and politicians and a window to the future, experts said on Tuesday. With the death toll still growing from the...
Australia Police Declare Bushfire Disaster a ‘Crime Scene’
Feb 10 2009 // Australian police treated the country’s entire bushfire disaster zone as a crime scene on Tuesday as investigators combed through a blackened wasteland to find clues to the culprits behind the country’s...
Risk Management Solutions Issues Initial Report on Australia Bushfires
Feb 10 2009 // A report from Risk Management Solutions states that the current rash of bushfires in Australia is “one of its worst outbreaks of wildfires ever, with whole towns almost completely destroyed and over one hundred...
Australian Bushfires Kill 131, Dozens More Missing
Feb 9 2009 // Weary firefighters and rescuers pulled the remains of dozens of people from charred buildings on Monday as the death toll rose to 131 from Australia’s deadliest bushfires. “Everybody’s gone....
Australian Wife Charged with Murder for Setting Husband on Fire
Jan 7 2009 // An Australian woman in Adelaide has been charged with murder after allegedly setting her husband’s genitals on fire because she thought he was having an affair. Prosecutors told the Adelaide Magistrates Court on...
UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute Drops Australian Merger Plans
Dec 19 2008 // The UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute said in a brief statement that it has “has decided to terminate the proposed merger with the Australian professional body ANZIIF after a number of financial discrepancies...
S&P Affirms Insurance Australia Group’s Ratings; ERM is ‘Strong’
Dec 17 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-‘ ratings on Insurance Australia Group Ltd.’s (IAG) core operating companies, including Insurance Australia Ltd. and IAG New Zealand...
Aspen to Open Australia Branch
Dec 16 2008 // Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited announced that its subsidiary, Aspen Insurance UK Limited, has been authorized by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to operate as a branch insurer to underwrite...
Aon Names Finnamore for Risk Management in Far East, Asia, Australia
Dec 15 2008 // Aon Corp. announced that Jim Finnamore will join the firm in January as regional director of Aon Environmental Services Group, Asia-Pacific. He will be based in Singapore and will coordinate the delivery of the...
