This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. මේ වසරේ මේ දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සංචාරකයින් පැමිණීම 436,000 ඉක්මවා ඇති අතර එය දිවයිනේ සංචාරක ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ශක්තිමත් ප්‍රකෘතියක් පෙන්නුම් කරන බව සංචාරක නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රුවන් රණසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය. ජනවාරි 1 සිට පෙබරවාරි 15 ​​දක්වා කාලය තුළ සංචාරකයින් 436,000 ක් මෙරටට පැමිණ ඇති බවත්, එය පසුගිය වසරේ එම කාලයට සාපේක්ෂව සැලකිය යුතු වැඩිවීමක් සනිටුහන් කරන බවත්

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Parts of Central Australia could be cut off this weekend as a burst of heavy rain moves in, threatening roads and rail links. Forecasters say large areas of South Australia and the Northern Territory may see up to 200mm of rain, with isolated spots possibly exceeding 300mm, according to Weatherzone. The heaviest falls are likely around Tennant Creek and the Simpson Desert, though some mode

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Sri Lanka has named Nalin Perera as its new Honorary Consul in Brisbane, with responsibility for the state of Queensland. The official appointment was presented on February 19 by Yasoja Gunasekera at the Sri Lanka High Commission. Perera is a healthcare-sector businessman and philanthropist. He is actively involved in professional, community and Buddhist organisations across Australia, acc

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s unemployment rate held steady in January 2026, defying expectations and strengthening the case for another interest rate rise later this year. New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the jobless rate remained at 4.1 per cent, instead of edging up as forecast. Employment increased by 18,000, driven by a strong gain of 50,000 full-time jobs, even as part-time ro

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආගමන හා විගමන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව දැනට විද්‍යුත් සංචාරක අවසර පත්‍ර (ETA) සඳහා අනුමත කිරීමේ නිවේදන නිකුත් කිරීමේදී තාවකාලික බාධාවක් අත්විඳිමින් සිටී. නිල නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා තානාපති කාර්යාලය තහවුරු කළේ බලධාරීන් දැනට “ETA අනුමත කිරීමේ නිවේදන නිකුත් කිරීමේ තාවකාලික ප්‍රමාදයකට” මුහුණ දී සිටින බවයි. එක්සත් රාජධාන

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s new New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES) is already reshaping the car market — and many buyers may end up paying more. The policy penalises car makers if new vehicles exceed fuel and emissions targets. The government says it will lower prices over time. So far, the opposite is happening. Several brands have dropped cheaper models because the penalties are too high. Kia has end

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Inflation has overtaken wage growth for the first time in two years, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Figures show wages rose 0.8% in the December quarter, lifting annual pay growth to 3.4%. But with inflation sitting at 3.8%, real wages slipped by about 0.4% over the quarter. The wage index does not include bonuses or overtime. Public sector pay grew faster

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. Australia’s title defence at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is over. The 2021 champions have been eliminated at the group stage after the Group B match between Zimbabwe and Ireland was washed out in Pallekele due to heavy rain. No ball was bowled. The abandoned game lifted Zimbabwe to five points, putting them beyond reach of Australia. Even a

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians may need to rethink how they live as pressure mounts on the housing market, experts warn. A new report by the Housing Industry Association and Cotality shows land prices have risen about three times faster than building and labour costs since 2000. Land is now the biggest driver of home price growth. The report says land costs reflect more than the ground itself. Before homes a

The Consulate General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Melbourne has announced a significant relocation of its offices, moving operations to a new premise on St. Kilda Road later this month. In an official notice released today, the Consulate confirmed that effective Tuesday, 24th February 2026 , all consular services will be conducted from their new headquarters at 432, Level 9 Suite 02, St. Kilda Road, VIC 3004 . Service Interruption Warning For members

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. පෙබරවාරි මාසයේ මුල් දින 15 තුළ සංචාරකයින් 159,339 දෙනෙකු මෙරටට පැමිණ ඇති බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ (SLTDA) දත්ත පෙන්වා දෙයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ (SLTDA) විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද දත්ත වලට අනුව, ඉන්දියාවෙන් සංචාරකයින් 26,096 ක් පැමිණ ඇති අතර එය 16.0% කි. තවද, පෙබරවාරි මාසයේ දී එක්සත් රාජධානියෙන් පුද්ගලයින් 17,807 ක්, රුසිය

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A fast-moving bushfire in northern Victoria has escalated to the highest emergency level, with homes under threat. The fire started around 1pm near the Goulburn Valley Highway at Trawool and is burning out of control. It is moving south-west toward Fairview Road and the Tallarook State Forest. Residents in parts of Kerrisdale, Tallarook and Trawool have been told it is too late to leave an

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. In a night of dramatic contrasts at Pallekele, Sri Lanka surged into the Super Eight stage of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, delivering a crushing eight-wicket victory that has left Australia’s tournament hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads. Powered by a sublime, unbeaten century from Pathum Nissanka, the co-hosts chased down Australia's

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. The spotlight is on Pallekele as Australia face Sri Lanka in a crucial Group B clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. The match will be played Today (February 16), with the first ball at 7.00 pm Sri Lankan time (12.30 am - February 17 Melbourne Time) at the Pallekele International Stadium, one of Sri Lanka’s highest-scoring T20 venues. What’

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Large parts of Australia are in for a wet and steamy week, with heavy rain forecast to soak nearly half the country. Weather analysts say a broad low-pressure system stretching across the nation is drawing in deep tropical moisture. According to Weatherzone, this setup is likely to drive widespread rain across northern Australia for several days. The heaviest falls are expected in western

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. Australia has expressed support for Sri Lanka’s potential bid to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade agreement covering 15 countries and around 30% of global GDP and population. Speaking at a forum hosted by the Pathfinder Foundation, Australian High Commissioner Matthew Duckworth said Aust

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. කොළඹ නගරයේ දැනට පවතින දැඩි රථවාහන තදබදයට විසඳුමක් ලෙස ලංකා මෙට්‍රෝ ට්‍රාන්සිට් බස් සේවාව හඳුන්වා දීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇති බව ප්‍රවාහන අමාත්‍යාංශය ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සමඟ පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකදී නිවේදනය කර තිබේ. ව්‍යාපෘතිය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය යටිතල පහසුකම් දැනටමත් සකස් කරමින් පවතින අතර, මෙම වසරේ අගෝස්තු මාසය වන විට බස් රථ මෙරටට පැමිණීමට නියමිතය. මෙම නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතිය මුලින් කොළඹ අවට ප්‍රධාන මාර්ග

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia Post is seeking approval to raise the price of a standard stamp by 15 cents, lifting the basic postage rate from $1.70 to $1.85 from mid-year. The proposal has been submitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for review. If approved, concession stamps will remain at 60 cents, and seasonal greeting stamps will stay at 65 cents. Australia Post also plans to expa

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ජාත්‍යන්තර දූෂණ නිරීක්ෂණ සංවිධානය වන ට්‍රාන්ස්පරන්සි ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් (Transparency International) විසින් නිකුත් කළ 2025 වසරේ දූෂණ සංවේදන දර්ශකය (Corruption Perceptions Index – CPI) අනුව, රාජ්‍ය අංශයේ සත්‍යාපනභාවය පිළිබඳ ගෝලීය අවබෝධයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වැදගත් ප්‍රගතියක් ලබා, ස්ථාන 14කින් ඉහළ ගොස් ඇත. රාජ්‍ය අංශයේ දූෂණ මට්ටම් පිළිබඳ සංවේදන මත පදනම්ව රටවල්

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast to hit central and south-east Queensland this weekend, with the system expected to extend into northern New South Wales. A low-pressure trough moving across Queensland from today through the weekend is set to trigger several days of wet and stormy weather. While rain on Thursday is not likely to cause flooding, it will soak the ground and increase