At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australian taxpayers will provide $2.5 billion to help keep Rio Tinto’s Tomago Aluminium smelter operating and protect about 1,000 direct jobs. The federal and NSW governments will each contribute half of the rescue package. The Newcastle smelter faces closure when its current electricity contract expires on December 31, 2028, with power costs expected to rise further from 2029. Tomago is A

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Qantas has been voted the most popular airline in Australia and the Pacific region in AirlineRatings.com’s 2026 Flyers’ Choice Awards. The results were based on votes from about 40,000 passengers, with travellers choosing airlines they believed offered the best overall experiences. Qantas took first place in the regional favourite airline category, ahead of Air New Zealand. Virgin Australia

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. අනාගතයේදී නිකුත් කිරීමට නියමිත විද්‍යුත් ගමන් බලපත්‍ර සඳහා ජෛවමිතික දත්ත ඇතුළත් කිරීමේ පද්ධතියක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය නීතිමය ප්‍රතිපාදන ඇතුළත් කරමින් නව ආගමන විගමන පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් සඳහා කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය හිමිව තිබේ. මෙම නව පනත් කෙටුම්පත රජයේ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව අනුමැතිය සඳහා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමටද කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය අනුමැත

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Victorian drivers are struggling to receive compensation for damage caused by potholes, with new figures showing just 23 successful claims in the past two years. More than 1,800 motorists applied for compensation for damage on state-managed roads. Only about 2 per cent received a payout. The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, highlight the difficulty drivers face wh

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australian drivers are facing sharply higher car insurance premiums, but many say insurers are not clearly explaining why prices have increased. A new report from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found motor vehicle insurance premiums rose by 8 per cent in the 12 months to July 2025. This followed a rise of more than 42 per cent between 2019 and 2024. ASIC reviewe

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 වාණිජ මට්ටමේ බැටරි බලශක්ති ගබඩා පද්ධති (Battery Energy Storage Systems – BESS) ලබන සැප්තැම්බර් මස මුලදී ජාතික විදුලිබල පද්ධතියට සම්බන්ධ කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ. විදුලි සම්ප්‍රේෂණ උපපොළවල් 16ක් ආසන්නයේ මෙම ව්‍යාපෘති ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇති අතර, ඒවායේ ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු මේ වන විට අවසන් අදියරට පැමිණ තිබේ. රජය සඳහන් කළේ, මෙම බැටරි පද්

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Flood warnings remain in place across Victoria, South Australia, southern New South Wales and the ACT after widespread heavy rain hit the region over the weekend. Victoria recorded some of the heaviest falls, with more than 100mm of rain recorded at at least 13 locations in the 24 hours to Monday morning. Several areas of South Australia, NSW and the ACT also received more than 50mm. The we

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Falling property prices are offering little relief to Australian homebuyers, as rising interest rates continue to reduce borrowing power. Canstar analysis shows three Reserve Bank rate increases this year have already cut the estimated borrowing capacity of an average-income couple by about $70,700. If another rate rise occurs, the reduction could reach around $92,500 compared with the star

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 ලංකා මහ බැංකුව විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද දත්ත වලට අනුව, 2026 වසරේ මුල් මාස හත තුළ විදේශ ශ්‍රමිකයින්ගෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලැබුණු විදේශ ප්‍රේෂණ ප්‍රමාණය ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 5 ඉක්මවා ඇත. 2026 ජනවාරි සිට ජූලි දක්වා මුළු ප්‍රේෂණ ප්‍රමාණය ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 5,382.4 ක් වූ අතර එය පසුගිය වසරේ අනුරූප කාල පරිච්ඡේදයේදී වාර්තා වූ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 4,435.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Business and employer groups are calling on new Victorian Premier Ben Carroll to reconsider proposed laws that would give eligible workers a legal right to work from home at least two days a week. The changes would cover full-time, part-time and casual employees and are expected to take effect next month. A coalition of 12 business and employment groups has warned the legislation could hurt

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage Wins Commonwealth Gold for Sri Lanka after 20 years

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australian motorists are expected to pay more at the pump from Sunday, with the temporary 16-cent-per-litre fuel excise discount coming to an end. Experts say petrol prices could increase by 17 to 18 cents per litre, adding around $9 to a 50-litre tank and about $11 to a 65-litre fill-up. Transport experts expect many drivers to top up their tanks before the price rise takes effect. However

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. විදේශ ගමන් හෝ වෙනත් ඕනෑම ගමනකදී අන් අයගේ පාර්සල් හෝ ගමන් මලු රැගෙන නොයන ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව මහජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින අතර, නොදැනුවත්වම මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය ඇතුළු නීතිවිරෝධී ද්‍රව්‍ය ප්‍රවාහනය කිරීම සඳහා අහිංසක මගීන් යොදාගැනීමේ අවදානමක් පවතින බවටද අනතුරු අඟවා තිබේ. ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගු මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක සහ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ රේගු අධ්‍යක්ෂ චන්දන පුංචිහේවා මහතා සඳහන් කළේ, තමන්

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia is expected to experience hotter and drier conditions from August to October, as a strengthening El Niño continues to influence the country's weather, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The latest seasonal outlook forecasts below-average rainfall across much of eastern Australia, southeast South Australia, southwest Western Australia, and parts of the Northern Territory, rais

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Victoria has recorded its first detection of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, after the virus was found in a wild bird in the state’s south-west. Agriculture Victoria confirmed the virus was detected in a greater crested tern near Portland. Further testing is being carried out by the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong to confirm the result. Victoria’s Chief Veteri

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 is making strong progress in developing ultra low-cost solar technology, but a new report says the biggest challenge is now building large-scale solar projects faster and more efficiently. The latest Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) report says cheaper solar power could help drive new industries such as green metals and clean f

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia's 2026 Census will take place on 11 August, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collecting information from everyone in the country to build a nationwide picture of the population. Households will begin receiving Census instructions from late July, with most people encouraged to complete the survey online. Paper forms are also available on request. The Census is mandato

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia has taken the first step toward building its first new oil refinery since the 1960s, as the federal government looks to strengthen the nation's fuel security. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Western Australian Premier Roger Cook have announced a $4 million joint pre-feasibility study to assess the development of a large-scale oil refinery in Karratha. If approved, the facility

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. රාජ්‍ය සේවා ඩිජිටල්කරණය සහ ආර්ථික ක්‍රියාවලීන් නවීකරණය කිරීමේ රජයේ වැඩපිළිවෙළේ තවත් පියවරක් ලෙස කඩදාසි රහිත රේගු ප්‍රකාශන සැකසුම් පද්ධතිය (Paperless Customs Declaration Processing System) ලබන ඔක්තෝබර් 1 වැනිදා සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන බව රජය නිවේදනය කර ඇත. මෙය රජයේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ වැඩසටහනේ ප්‍රධාන අංගයක් වන අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රාජ්‍ය සේවාවන් ජාත්‍යන

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Federal Government has not ruled out extending Australia's fuel excise discount as ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to put pressure on global oil prices. Resources Minister Madeleine King said the government is closely monitoring fuel costs and will decide whether further relief is needed before the current discount expires at the beginning of August. The fuel excise was fi