Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Odds of El Nino This Year Increasing, Says U.S. Climate Center
Apr 23 2014 // The odds are increasing that an El Nino weather system will form this year, portending drought for Australia and Asia and a warmer winter in the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center now says there’s a...
Genworth Financial to Raise as Much as $700 Million in Australia Offer
Apr 23 2014 // Genworth Financial Inc. plans to raise as much as $700 million by selling a minority stake in its Australian mortgage guarantor, in what may be the biggest share sale in the country for more than three years. The seller of...
El Nino Seen Starting by July as UN Highlights Risk to Rice
Apr 22 2014 // An El Nino will probably start as soon as July, according to the Australian government forecaster, adding to predictions for the event that can affect weather patterns worldwide and roil farm-commodity prices. All the...
Cyclone Ita Landfall in Queensland as Cat 4; Cat 3 as It Moves Inland: AIR Analysis
Apr 14 2014 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, “Tropical Cyclone Ita crossed the north Queensland coast near Cape Flattery between 11:00 and 12:00 UTC (9-10 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time [AEST])...
70% Chance of El Nino Extreme Weather Event in 2014: Australian Meteorologists
Apr 8 2014 // The chance of an El Nino weather event developing in 2014 now exceeds 70 percent, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday, raising the prospect of damaging floods and droughts across the globe. Global cocoa...
Arthur J. Gallagher to Buy Australian Wesfarmers’ Insurance Brokerage
Apr 6 2014 // Perth, Australia-based conglomerate Wesfarmers has agreed to sell the insurance brokerage and premium funding operations of its Insurance division to subsidiaries of U.S.-based broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for...
How Robots, Drones Are Transforming Mining and Mine Safety
Apr 4 2014 // Mines without miners? Not quite. Still, a technology boom in robots, drones, driverless trucks and pilotless trains is beginning to reshape one of the world’s most labor-intensive industries, portending automation of...
Malaysia Jet Search Shifts, as New Lead Shows It Flew Shorter Distance
Mar 28 2014 // The three-week hunt for Malaysian Air Flight 370 focused on a new area in the Indian Ocean today after radar data indicated the plane probably flew a shorter distance than earlier estimated. The new lead was based on...
Global Insurance Organization’s G-20 Delegates Stress Social, Economic Role
Mar 21 2014 // In a series of meetings this week with the Australian G-20 Presidency, the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA) has called on the G-20 to “ensure that all international regulatory reform initiatives...
Analysis of Possible Plane Debris Slowed by Vast Size of Satellite Data
Mar 21 2014 // Delays in identifying satellite images that may show debris of a missing Malaysian plane in the southern Indian Ocean were due to the vast amounts of data that needed to be analyzed, Australian authorities and the U.S....
Norwegian Ship Reaches Location of Possible Malaysian Plane Debris
Mar 20 2014 // Norwegian car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg has reached the area in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where two floating objects, suspected to be debris from the missing Malaysian jetliner, were spotted, the...
El Nino Could Strike as Early as Summer Says U.S. Forecaster CPC
Mar 7 2014 // The much-feared El Nino phenomenon, the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific which can trigger drought in Southeast Asia and Australia and floods in South America, could strike the Northern Hemisphere as...
MacDonald to Head Miller’s New Combined P&C Team
Feb 27 2014 // UK specialist insurance and reinsurance broker Miller Insurance Services LLP announced that it is combining its property and casualty specialists into one business area headed by Ken MacDonald. Miller said the new...
QBE Jumps on Premiums, North American Unit Outlook: Sydney Mover
Feb 25 2014 // QBE Insurance Group Ltd., Australia’s second-largest insurer by market value, climbed to its highest level in more than two months on plans to increase premium rates and bring its North American unit back to profit...
Ratings Roundup: AIG Asia-Pacific, Fuji Fire/AIU
Feb 21 2014 // A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Singapore-based AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd. (AIG APAC) and its fully-owned...
El Nino Threatens to Return; May Hit Global Food Production
Feb 21 2014 // The El Nino weather pattern, which can trigger drought in some parts of the world while causing flooding in others, is increasingly likely to return this year, hitting production of key foods such as rice, wheat and...
Global 2013 Cat Losses at $40 Billion Were ‘Below Average’ – Guy Carpenter
Feb 13 2014 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and member of Marsh & McLennan Companies, 2013 Catastrophe Review concludes that “natural catastrophes and man-made disasters...
Australia Sees Increased Risks from El Nino Weather Pattern
Feb 11 2014 // Australian climate models indicate an increased chance of an El Nino weather pattern emerging later this year, the country’s weather bureau said on Tuesday, raising the risk of drought and floods in some parts of the...
Snowy, Cold January Was Deadly and Costly: Aon
Feb 6 2014 // The various winter storms that brought snow and bitter cold to the United States in January took more than 50 lives and are expected to result in direct economic losses of about $3.5 billion and insured losses of more than...
Ironshore’s Australian Sub to Buy Specialist Insurer Assetinsure
Feb 4 2014 // Bermuda-based Ironshore Inc. announced that its Australian subsidiary has entered into an agreement to purchase all of the shares of Assetinsure Holdings Pty Ltd, the parent company of Assetinsure Pty Ltd (collectively...
