Australia

Award-Winning Television Programming Now Available on the iTunes Store in Australia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, June 25, 2008 — Apple® today announced that television programming from Australia’s top networks including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Seven Network and Nine Network, along with US-produced programs from The Walt Disney Company’s ABC Studios, Disney Channel and MTV Networks, is now available on the iTunes® Store in Australia (itunes.com/au). iTunes customers can choose from a wide range of television shows including the Logie Award-winning “Summer Heights High” and “McLeod’s Daughters,” the top-rated drama “Sea Patrol,” as well as favorites from the US including “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Hills.”    » read more »

SYDNEY, Australia, June 19, 2008 - On June 11, the entertainment heavyweight that is WWE® descended upon the shores of Australia and New Zealand. The tour swept through seven cities in seven days, playing in front of fanatical crowds in Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, and Newcastle before finishing up in Brisbane on June 17, making it the longest live event tour to date in the region.

Along with more than 68,000 WWE fans who attended the seven live events, ringside to watch the drama unfold were top TV comedian Rove McManus, Australian cricket hero Shane Warne, former champion boxer Jeff Fenech, as well as stars from Newcastle Knights, Sydney Swans, The NZ Warriors and Geelong Football Club.    » read more »

Sydney -- 02 June 2008 -- Australian combat troops have begun leaving Iraq. Their departure fulfills an election promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who pledged to pull his country's out of Iraq by the middle of 2008. For Australia's 550 combat soldiers, the war in Iraq is over.

Australian Army Sgt. helps a wounded US Army soldier: Australian Regular Army Sgt. Tarese Heath cuts the boot off an U.S. Army Soldier with broken toes in the emergency department at Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2005. Photo by Pattie A. (CC)

They have begun leaving their base at Tallil, 300 kilometers south of Baghdad, where they have been helping to train Iraqi security forces.    » read more »

May 21, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) held a hearing this morning entitled, “Defense Trade Cooperation with the United Kingdom and Australia.” The Committee heard testimony from John C. Rood, Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs at the State Department.

The full text of Sen. Biden’s opening statement from this morning’s hearing is below:

“Forty years ago, the Arms Export Control Act was enacted to fashion an orderly process for promoting U.S. arms sales while preventing the spread of advanced military technology and equipment to our enemies or to countries that might misuse those exports.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- Washington, DC -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today to discuss U.S.-Australian relations and their shared commitment to sustaining and promoting the historic friendship between the two nations.
The Prime Minster and Senator Clinton also addressed matters of mutual concern to the United States and Australia, including Australia’s health care system, relations with China, and other issues relating to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Senator Hillary Clinton meets with Australian Prime Minister Kevin RuddThis was the first meeting between Clinton and Rudd since he became Australia’s 26th Prime Minister in December.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the visit of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the United States:

"I would like to extend my sincere welcome to the Honorable Kevin Rudd, who is making his first trip to the United States as the newly elected Prime Minister of Australia. This is a historic visit during a time of transition for both our nations.    » read more »

March 28, 2008 -- PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for that rousing ovation.

Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. Sure glad you're here. And, Therese, thank you for joining us, as well. Laura and I are thrilled to welcome you here to the White House. And I appreciate the opportunity to visit with a leader of one of America's closest allies and friends. And one thing is for sure, that friendship will strengthen and endure under the leadership of Kevin Rudd.

President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shake hands: White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian    » read more »