Local news story

On this article I am going to talk about local news stories that happened during my semester and even before. I have chosen 3 stories that caught my attention.

Australian federal election

The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 and everyone was talking about it. First of all, Australia has a Westminster system, which is originated from England. It means the Government is heading by a Prime Minister. On May 18th, people elected members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. These members then choose the Prime Minister of the country so the election has an important impact. The first main party that won is the National Coalition, centre-right political party, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with 77 seats, around 51,53%. The second party is the Labor, centre-left political party, led by Bill Shorten with 68 seats, around 48.47%. The results are a huge surprise because the Labor party was supposed to win if we believe polls. However, the Coalition has been in government since the 2013 federal election.

In Australia, compared to France, you have to vote otherwise you may have a fine for not voting. It makes the election even more important because everyone is supposed to vote and express their views. When I was in Sydney people showed their point of view by having T-shirts with the member they wanted to vote. I could also see people having posters on their houses to claim the member they agreed with. It shows once again how important this election was to them and how involved they were.

Extreme heat in Australia

January 2019 was the hottest month in the History in Australia. Large parts of Australia received only 20% of their normal rainfall especially in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. In fact, New South Wales broke the record for hottest minimum temperature, registering one night at 36.6C. Port Augusta recorded 49.5 C the country’s highest temperature in January.

I arrived in February and the weather was still very hot. For my first week, the temperature was 38 even at night. Also, my university had to close for a day because it could be dangerous staying outside. Of course, the ACT government (Australian Capital Territory Government) gives summer safety for everyone and tips to avoid the heat. Even if citizens are use to the heat it can still become dangerous for them.

This heat has an important impact on people but also on the environment. It caused mass deaths of fish and fire warnings. Also, scientists are concerned because they think that the heat is hitting faster and harder than anticipated. Global warming has an huge impact on the continent's environment, economy, and communities. Australia has a climate change due to the high fire risk that is increasing. Also, a large part of its tourism industry depends on the health of the great barrier reef who gets worse. I had the chance to dive and see the incredible great barrier reef and I just hope we can do something to keep it that way as long as possible.

Death of Azaria Chamberlain

This story is an old one but very famous in Australia. During my spring break I got the chance to visit Fraser Island. It is known as the largest sand island in the world and is wonderful by the way. During our trip we had a guide that knew a lot of stories that happened on the island and somewhere else in Australia. One of them was about this famous story: an Australian 2-month-old baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of 17 August 1980 on a family camping trip to Uluru. A dingo is a wild dog that can be very dangerous. There were many of them on the island. Azaria Chamberlain, the Australian baby girl had been taken from their tent by a dingo, according to her parents. However, her mom was accused to murder her child and even spent time in prison. The baby’s body was not found for a long time and her parents were considered guilty. Her mom was finally released when a piece of the baby girl was found near a dingo lair. This case has been highly publicized in Australia and has even been adapted into a movie.

A dingo

Many stories exist with people attacked by a dingo, especially on Fraser island, where we were. Fortunately, there are many prevention posters on the island and people know how to react if they see a Dingo. In fact, we could never walk alone and couldn't run as well. I have seen many during my trip and even if they look really cute I was still very scared of them, even more after hearing all these crazy stories.

Hope you liked these stories !